Skin of Ice
by hersheyman
Summary: From small child in Rungunkai to Captain of Squad Ten, kicking and screaming all the way.  Will answer the question of just what Toshiro Hitsugaya had against becoming a Soul Reaper. Complete. Review
1. Chapter 1

The children laughed as they threw the ball back and forth between themselves.

"Catch this one, Ryuzaki!"

One boy attempted to show off, throwing the ball as hard as he could. It bounced out of his friend's hands and rolled into the nearby bushes.

"You dropped it, you got it!"

The child known as Ryuzaki stepped into the bushes, looking for the ball. He found it under a small foot. The foot kicked the ball up, where it was caught by a hand.

"Here." the white haired boy said, handing the ball back to Ryuzaki, who took it with a worried expression. Under the impassive gaze of the newcomer's aqua green eyes he slowly backed away while turning around.

Once he was facing the opposite direction he broke into a run.

"Hey, guys," he said when he had rejoined his group, "why don't we go play somewhere else?"

His friends looked at the bushes and caught sight of the white hair. "Yeah. Somewhere else." "Good idea." "I know where. Follow me."

None of them looked back as they left.

"Why didn't you ask them if you could play too, Whitey?" a voice asked behind the boy in the bushes.

He did not turn around. "I keep telling you to stop calling me that."

The girl behind him chuckled. "You didn't answer my question."

"I didn't want to play."

"Then why did you come out here?"

"Because…because you wet the bed!"

He knew he was being cruel, that she had not done so since he was a baby, but he still repeated the teasing she received from other children. He could normally draw at least a small pout from her with that insult, but that day even that small satisfaction was denied him. She did not react at all.

For a second he wondered if she was maturing beyond petty name calling. She was about twice his age, after all.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Your grandmother said you'd be here, and I came to say good bye."

He spun around. "Good bye!"

Her smile was so sad it sickened him. "Yes. I'm leaving this afternoon. I'm going to enter the academy in the Seretei. I'm going to be a Soul Reaper."

He stared at her. There was a gust of northerly wind that caused the girl to shiver.

"Brrr. It's so cold, you'd never know it was still summer."

"You just up and decided to become a Soul Reaper like that?"

"Well, I was in the market when one of them passed by. He told me he sensed a lot of potential in me and that I should put it to good use in the Court Guard Squads. And with the academy entrance exams for this year so close I kind of had to make a decision quickly."

"I'll say. You decided to spend your whole career risking your life for strangers on a whim."

"It is not a whim!" she protested. "I've actually been thinking about it for a while now. Soul Reapers do very important things. I just didn't think I had the ability."

The smile disappeared from her face entirely. "Will you and your grandmother be all right without me?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course."

"I'll miss you, Toshiro. But at least I'll be able to come back and visit once a year."

"Don't bother. It's not like I'll be missing you."

He said such a seemingly hurtful thing because he knew it would bring the smile back to her face.

"All right. I'll see if I can make it twice a year." She looked at her watch. "Right now I've got to go finish packing." She turned to leave.

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

She was staring at him so expectantly that he had to look at his toes. "Whatever happens… don't stop being Momo."

She looked as if he had just made her week.

"I promise."/

Granny Hitsugaya watched sadly as her grandson rummaged through the library books on Soul Reapers he had taken out. Most children his age were still illiterate, and it was heavy reading even for an adult. With the way the others kids in their area never let him play with them he had had a lot of time to learn, and to develop his mind.

It was not surprising that he would try to learn everything there was to know about the organization his only friend had left for. The question was what would he do with that information.

For such an isolated and intelligent boy life in a simple village like their part of Rungunkai was too restricting. Granny had always known it, but she had never consciously considered that little Toshiro would go to the Seretei until now.

It would be only natural for him to want to follow Hinamori, even if it would not even be an option until many years off. 'Momo,' as both Hitsugayas called her, was only just old enough to be allowed into the academy./

Toshiro closed another book and rubbed his eyes.

"My, my." Granny said. "That's the third book on Soul Reapers you've finished today. Are you thinking about becoming one yourself?"

He answered with a seriousness beyond his years.

"No. I don't understand why anyone would ever want to be a Soul Reaper."

"I see."

There were many things Toshiro did not understand about Hinamori, for instance how she could try to be his friend all the time when even all of the adults around besides for Granny were too frightened to speak with him. But this truly gnawed at him.

Soul Reapers were hardened warriors. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"I just don't get it. Why would anyone want to be like…like…"


	2. Chapter 2

Contrary to her promise, it was a full year before Hinamori visited. It was a year in which Toshiro hardly spoke. It was not that he had nothing to say; it was just that he had no one to say it to. He would leave home for whatever purpose and come back later in the day never having

So it was that when Hinamori finally did come, he had become so accustomed to his own silence that let her do all the talking.

She was babbling on about her school while he dug into one of the watermelons his grandmother had had him buy in honor of Hinamori's coming home.

"And there's-are you even listening to me, Whitey?"

He spat a mouthful of watermelon seeds at her. "Don't call me that!" But he had looked the other way before speaking so she would not see his smile.

So she had not changed very much over the previous year after all.

"Maybe when you go to the same grown up school as me I'll call you by your real name."

"No way! Why would anyone want to go there?"

"I think you'd change your mind if you met Captain Aizen."

Toshiro's eyes widened. The captains were the elite of the elite of the Soul Reapers. When had she met him he could not even guess.

"He's so fantastic, and so strong. I hope I get placed in his fifth division when I graduate."

Toshiro rubbed his head. It did not matter how much she had changed or not changed. She wanted to be just like that captain. His only friend was lost to him now.

"What's wrong, Toshiro?"

"Nothing."/

That night Toshiro tossed and turned.

He was standing in a plain that stretched as far as the eye could see.

A wind blew in his face, a gust so strong that it knocked him over.

And behind the wind there was a voice. A booming voice that shook the land with each sound it made.

But Toshiro could not make out anything intelligible over the wind.

"What are you saying ?" he yelled, trying to rise. "I can't hear you! Who are you?"

The air crackled as the voice boomed louder. The intensity of the wind doubled, forcing Toshiro down again.

"Stop." he breathed. "Crushing…..me."

The pressure lifted, and he was forced to sit up by a wheezing cough.

Toshiro looked around. He was safe in his bed. And at least he had not woke his grandmother.

Still breathing heavily, he covered his face with his hands. Going back to sleep was out of the question. He was shaking, and knew he would continue to do for hours. Never in his short life had he been so terrified.

'That was terrible. I hope I never have a nightmare like that again.'


	3. Chapter 3

It was the same every night.

He stood in the plain, struggling against the wind, straining to make out the voice.

In a matter of months he was able to stand against the gale. And he saw a bright light. It grew closer and brighter every night. There, he knew, was the source of the voice.

But he still could not understand it./

Hinamori did not come the following summer, much to Granny's surprise, if not Toshiro's. He already knew she had become too enraptured in her new world to be concerned about her old one anymore.

After the day she did not come had passed, Toshiro went out to see the other children again. But their reaction was unchanged from two years prior. They exchanged nervous glances at the sight of him and ran away.

Toshiro sighed, and at the same time, a strong northerly wind blew, chilling the summer air.

'It's like the wind is my only friend.' he thought.

'Why are they still afraid of me? Is it because my hair is a different color? Or my eyes? Because I seem so distant? But it's everyone. Not just the other kids.'

Dejected, he went home, hoping to cheer himself up with some sweets. However, he found that they were almost finished.

"Granny, I'm going to the store to get more sweets. Do you want anything?"

The elderly woman shook her head and smiled, handing Toshiro ten black coins.

'That's not like Granny.' he thought as he ran to the candy store. 'She's never so quiet when I talk to her. Is she getting weaker? She's gotten very thin over the last year, ever since I started having those dreams.'

He shook his head furiously, trying to shake off that thought. It was impossible. He could never hurt Granny like that.

A coincidence. That's all it was. It had to be./

After taking the bag of sweets, Toshiro held out his hand.

"Here's your change." the shopkeeper said too forcibly. He did not put the three coins into Toshiro's hand, but rather slammed them on the counter before turning around.

Tohiro looked from his hand, to the money, to the sshopkeeper. Fear was one thing, but anger?

"If that's all you want kid then run on home."

The cloud cover increased and the sky darkened slightly as Toshiro took the change.

"Hey, you!"

Wondering who else he had offended just by existing Toshiro turned around, to find a large pair of breasts about to hit him in the face.

The impact knocked him backwards, and he hit the back of his head on the counter. He fell on his face, grasping the injury.

"Are you picking on him because he's a kid?" the woman responsible asked. Toshiro could not help but think that it was ironic. "I had no idea the shopkeepers around here were so rude!"

"I-I didn't mean any offence, Ma'am." the shopkeeper stammered in fear.

The woman then turned her attention to the boy lying on the ground massaging the back of his head. And _you…"_

She grabbed the back of Toshiro's shirt and lifted him up with one hand. "Don't just lie there!" she yelled in his face. "Stop crying and man up so you can say what you feel!"

"Who's fault is it that I fell over?" he protested. "And besides, I'm _not_ crying! Now let me go!

"I said let go!" He smacked her wrist, forcing her to drop him.

"Hey, wait!" she called as he ran off. But he did not even look back.

She rubbed her wrist. The kid's blow had not hurt, but it did leave her hand with a strange feeling of coldness that bordered on numbness.

"That boy…"/

'It's that dream again.

'I hear a voice. It's crushing me, surrounding me.

'Like thunder is falling into my palm.'

The wind howled again, but this time he braced himself, shielding his face with his arms.

"Who are you?"

"**I AM."**

Those were the first words from the voice that Toshiro had ever understood. He raised one arm so that he could see in front of him.

It was monstrous. Larger than the biggest house he had ever seen. A shining blue, with glowing red eyes. And teeth as sharp as swords.

"You're a dragon! What do you want with me!"

"**Child…"**

The voice continued, but the sound was drowned out by the wind.

"I can't hear you!" Toshiro yelled.

The voice roared, sounding disappointed.

"I can't hear you."

Something tapped him on the shoulder, startling him awake.

"Hey." the woman above him said.

"Wha-" he groaned, only half awake. "You-you're from this afternoon, aren't you?"

"Hide your reiatsu when you're sleeping." she whispered.

"What?"

"Your grandmother looks cold."

Toshiro looked around. A frost had surrounded his bed, covering most of the room. It had spread even as far as granny's bed, where she shivered terribly in her sleep.

"Granny?"

"Kid, you need to become a Soul Reaper." the woman said.

It was then that Toshiro realized that she was herself a Soul Reaper.

"Powerful kids like yourself need to learn how to control their powers. Otherwise…

"The power inside you will kill your grandmother soon."

"I don't-"

She pointed at his chest. "You can hear a voice, can't you?"

His eyes widened farther than they ever had before.

"I thought so."

There was a keeping noise, and she drew some sort of device out of her pocket. "Matsumoto speaking…Yes, sir…All right. I'm on my way back." She put the device away.

"I've got to go, but you should get yourself to the academy as soon as possible."

"But-but-I'm too young! I'd never be allowed in! And it takes too long for me to travel! Even if I could get in, it would be weeks too late!"

"Don't worry. We know what to do with special cases. You should say your goodbyes and be on your way."/

He told Granny everything when she woke up. She smiled so sadly as he spoke that he had to stop. He could not bear to look at her anymore, and he turned his head to the floor.

'Don't cry.' he thought. 'Don't cry.'

"Oh, Toshiro." Granny said in a hoarse voice. "Why didn't you tell me about these dreams? Do you think my health has been failing lately only due to the cold? I've been sick with worry!

"I see how you suffer every day, Toshiro, and it breaks my heart, how you try to hide it. I don't know if you've been trying to be strong for my sake, but that's never what I wanted.

"We both know you don't belong here, Toshiro. You're brilliant young mind is trapped in this small hut and this small town. I know I'm the reason you're still here and not out finding your place in the world."

He looked up. "But-but-can I leave you all alone?"

She chuckled, or would have if she was not interrupted by a coughing fit.

"Come here." He complied and she embraced him in the biggest hug he had ever remembered.

"Who cares about the old and infirm? It's time you worried about your own well being."

He choked back a sob.

"Didn't I just tell you to stop holding it in? You're never to old to cry a little, or a lot."

She held the crying child there for hours./

"Do you have everything?"

Toshiro rummaged through the bag with his supplies for the journey one more time and checked his wallet again. He nodded.

"Then you'd better get going, don't you?"

Granny gave him a little push out of the door.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Then go, and don't look back. I'm sorry I'm not well enough to go with you, but I'll always be thinking of you."

"I know."

With the solemness of a much older man, Toshiro turned around and walked off.

Granny wiped a tear from her eye. "I always thought you were meant for greater things, Toshiro."/

_Things are going to break slightly from the canon from here on out, starting with his leaving with Momo having only spent two years in the academy. There are a few reasons for this, one of which being that I can't see the old lady surviving multiple years of that frost._


	4. Chapter 4

For weeks he walked towards the voice. It beckoned him on, though valleys and across rivers.

Toshiro was surprised to find that people were nice to him wherever he went. Being a traveler his appearance was considered exotic instead of frightening, and people were generally inclined to take pity on children.

However, he quickly learned to keep his true destination a secret, as Soul Reapers were clearly not popular with everyone. There had been a brawl at the first inn he stayed at that had left him with a cut lip.

And still the dreams continued.

Every night it was the same. The blue dragon. The wind. The same few words he could just make out.

Many mornings he found the other guests complaining to the inn owners that there had been a terrible wind that had kept them up all night, or that their rooms had been freezing. Because he was always just passing through for a night, no one suspected him of being the cause.

'I see that the weather can change with my emotions and try to keep that under control.' he thought. 'But how do I control what happens when I'm asleep?'

Finally, after a month, he made it to the walls of the Seretei.

"So how do I get in?"

As far as he could see in either direction the wall was impenetrable. It was higher than any building he had ever seen. And he knew it had many forms of magical protection.

He turned left, hoping to eventually find an entrance.

It was hours before he saw another soul, and he was beginning to wonder just how massive the Seretei was.

"Hey, you."

Toshiro stopped and slowly turned around. That voice had not sounded friendly.

"You the kid I'm supposed to bring to the academy? Matsumoto said you'd arrive this week."

He was being addressed by a Soul Reaper, one with dark sunglasses that hid his eyes.

"Your name's Hitu-something, right?"

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Whatever. Come with me."

The Soul Reaper tapped on the wall, which began to rise. No, Toshiro realized. It was being _lifted._

What could only be described as a giant had picked up what served as a humungous gate entrance and held it high above their heads.

"Yes, sir." the giant said. But the Soul Reaper did not even acknowledge him as he strutted back into the Seretei. Toshiro followed as quickly as he could.

There was a loud 'thump' as the giant dropped the gate. Toshiro took one last look behind himself.

The door to the world he had known before was closed forever.

His previous assessment of the size of the Seretei was, if anything, an underestimate. They walked for hours.

Toshiro felt that he was back home. They encountered many Soul Reapers, most of whom stopped to stare at the little kid with the freakish hair being led through their territory.

One idiotic individual actually approached them to ask who the midget was. Toshiro had decided at that time that control could go to hell, and let his anger show. The result was an icy mist that repelled any unwanted contact, though if anything it made the staring worse.

It was evening when they finally reached the academy. They walked through what had seemed like a labyrinthine set of corridors until they were at the administrative office. The Soul Reaper knocked.

"Come in."

He pushed the door open. A middle aged looking woman was sitting behind a desk that was filled with papers. The Soul Reaper bowed to her and left without a word.

"Hello, Toshiro. I'm Misa Yagami."

She was looking down at him even though she was seated and he was standing.

"You do know why you're here, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Normally we do not allow students your age into the academy, or new students at all after the term begins. But there have been exceptions to both of those rules in the past, and Fifth Seat Matsumoto believes that you should be one of those exceptions.

"Now, sit down."

He took the only other seat in the room, on the other side of her desk, and she handed him a set of papers and a pen.

"This is the standard entrance exam. Complete it, and we'll go on from there."

Toshiro looked at the first question, then the second, then the third: his eyes narrowing further with each successive question.

"What's wrong?"

"Is this a joke?" he asked.

"A joke?" She stared at him intently. He returned the gaze.

"It's _this _easy to get into the Soul Reaper Academy?"

"Most applicants fail each year." she said seriously. "Answer the questions, unless you want to be the first applicant in history to get a zero on the exam."

Toshiro shook his head as he began jotting down answers. A half hour later, he was done.

"Already?" Misa asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I said it looked easy." he said as he handed her back the exam.

She looked over the papers, her eyes widening with each answer in direct contrast to how his had narrowed with each question.

She suddenly stood up and stormed out of the office.

"What is it?" he asked, but she did not reply./

"A _perfect_ score, I tell you, Matsuda!"

"No way. No one's gotten a perfect score-"

"-since Gin Ichimaru! I know!"

"Looks like Matsumoto might not have been kidding after all."

"Get the orb! We've got to test how strong that kid is! This could be the first real prodigy we've had in decades!"/

Misa brought a friend with her when she came back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Toshiro, but there's one more test we need you to take. Give it to him, Matsuda."

The man handed Toshiro a glass sphere a foot in diameter.

"That orb is a device we use to gauge reiatsu. Try to focus your power into it."

Toshiro held the orb up.

"Close your eyes and think of a black circle.

He complied, putting all of his concentration into the black circle he formed with his mind.

"Good." Misa said as the orb began to glow. "Can you do more?"

Toshiro gritted his teeth as he tried to make the black circle clearer.

But a bright blue light appeared, overwhelming the circle, overwhelming him.

"What?"

"**My name is"**

The next thing Toshiro knew was a sharp pain in his hands as broken glass cut into his palms. He opened his eyes. The orb was in so many pieces that it was not recognizable as having ever been a sphere anymore.

"Sorry." he said sheepishly. "I've been told I have control problems."

When there was no response he looked up at the instructors. Matsuda was shivering as the temperature had dropped dramatically while Misa just stared at him with her mouth wide open.

"Are…are you all right?" she finally asked.

"I think so. It doesn't seem too bad."

"In that case," she sighed as she sat back down in her chair, "we can decide what to do with you before sending you to the Fourth Division to get that taken care of."

"What to do with me?" 'Was that really _that_ abnormal?"

"Matsuda!"

"Uh huh." Matsuda muttered, still shivering.

"For the next few weeks I want you to personally train this boy. In one month's time I want him caught up and ready to join the third years-"

"Make it the fourth."

"What?"

"I don't want to be in the third year. If I'm going to be skipping already, make it the fourth."

Toshiro thought he would have to explain about Hinamori, but Misa just nodded and said "Fine. Get him caught up with the fourth years by this time next month, Matsuda."

"Um, all right. Come on, Toshiro. The Fourth Division will get your hands fixed up real quick."/

"Are you crazy?" Matsuda demanded after he had returned.

"I might be in a little bit of shock right now, yes." Misa answered.

"The fourth years have to get their Zanpaktos by the middle of the year or else they'll be discharged from the school! What if he can't claim his in the three months he'll have? Are willing to let someone like _that go so soon?"_

"Ichimaru did it."

"He's not Ichimaru!"

"No." she looked straight ahead. "He's not. I was here when we tested Gin. He did not have the power yet to make an orb explode."


	5. Chapter 5

Toshiro was overwhelmed.

Every waking minute was spent training, working, or studying. With one month's time he had to learn and master more than three years worth of material.

Days were wasted with Matsuda trying to get him to control his reiatsu by mastering his inner world. But Toshiro hated to enter the plain and converse with the blue dragon.

Always it was the same, whether in his dreams or meditations.

"**My name is"**

"I don't care!" Toshiro shouted. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

Still the voice continued, and Toshiro yelled with all of the hatred and resentment he had built up towards the dragon.

"**I said go away!"**

Slowly, the winds receded, and the voice stopped. The dragon slithered back beyond the horizon.

The plain was calm for the first time Toshiro had known it. He stood, the master of his inner world.

But there was still a bright blue light off in the distance./

With his reiatsu finally under some control, they moved on to manipulating it. Soul Reapers who could control great amounts of reiatsu could move and at speeds unmatched by anything else in existence.

And that was before the flash step.

It took Toshiro more precious days to realize that he could not achieve the technique by concentrating all of his reiatsu in the soles of his feet. He learned rather painfully that his knees needed some of that power to brace themselves.

Then there was kido. It seemed like nothing but a waste of time to Toshiro to learn that, with the sheer amount of time it took to say any of the incantations that preceded the spells making them useless.

But Matsuda said that he would have to be able to cast all kido spells o\up to and including level twenty to enter the fourth year class, so grudgingly he memorized the incantations and the hand movements.

With the physical exertion, the amount of energy he was expending, and the lack of time he had for eating and sleeping, Toshiro was at the point of mental and physical exhaustion just two weeks into the training.

"Don't most students do sword practice before all this reiatsu stuff?"

"Ordinarily yes." Matsuda said. But swordplay is the easiest skill to catch up with. You need to be at a fourth year level with all reiatsu related subjects if you ever hope to keep up with that class.

"And…we can't leave someone with your kind of power at your current level of control."

And so the training continued. He flash stepped while reciting incantations for kido spells, dodged attacks Matsuda fired at him or blocked them with Kido. He meditated in the plain that was his inner world every day.

The dragon did not move farther away or come any closer, though Toshiro knew it was becoming restless. Even so, the dreams had finally ceased after two years, and he was able to get the most rest out of a few hours of sleep he had ever gotten.

On the last day of his training, Matsuda finally let up on the regimen, saying that Toshiro needed to be well rested before starting his classes with the fourth years the next day. So he had Toshiro spend most of the day meditating.

However, an hour into the session Matsuda left for a short while. When he opened the door a fly was able to enter the room.

Attracted by the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead from the intense concentration, the fly began to buzz around Toshiro's head.

His hand shot out, grabbing the fly out of midair. His eyes blinked open.

'Did I really move that fast?' he wondered. His movement was complete reaction, with his eyes closed, and without using a flash step at all.

He opened his hand, releasing the fly. It resumed circling his head, until he released a tiny amount of reiatsu.

Just to the right of his head, the buzzing stopped. The fly hung in midair for an instant, then fell to the floor with an actual thud, covered in a layer of ice to heavy to allow its wings to move.

Toshiro nodded to himself. So he had gained something from those weeks of training after all./

"How's he doing?" Misa asked.

"His kido could be better, seeing as how he doesn't like the subject, but with this kid 'better' means something totally different. And his flash steps are already faster than mine."

"Well, that's to be expected." Misa said with a smirk.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Has he been in communication with his Zanpakto?"

"I'm not sure. It's hard to tell what's going on in his inner world. At least he's not freezing the room in his sleep anymore."

"That's good at least. I've already told the fourth year instructors to expect a new transfer tomorrow. And I've told them all to make sure he eats a lot. Captain Unohana heard about him from the nurse who fixed his hands and is convinced that he's malnourished even though she's never seen him."

"One more thing, Misa."

"What?"

"You know we didn't have a chance to do anything related to sword fighting. He's as far behind them on that as any child out on the streets."

"I know. But what choice do we have?"/

Small.

That's how Toshiro felt when he entered his first classroom.

Even the next shortest student in the class was more than two heads taller than him. No one even noticed as Toshiro walked by them. No one looked down. It was as if Toshiro was invisible as he took an empty seat in the back.

It may have been better for him to stay invisible.

When the instructor arrived he announced that the fourth year had received a new student and asked Toshiro to stand up. Suddenly all eyes were fixed on him. His hair. His eyes. His size.

No eyes twinkled with humor. Some showed annoyance, some morbid curiosity.

The class that day was a review of the level twenty Bakuda spell, . They took turns practicing it on . As the newcomer Toshiro was last.

He was surprised to see that nearly a third of the students still could not perform the spell at all. He himself had mastered it four days before, as he demonstrated with ease when it was his turn.

The eyes of the fourth year students stared at him again, and this time there was much more animosity than curiosity.

It was then that Toshiro realized that there were two reactions his new classmates had to his presence.

One was anger at the little brat for daring to try to be as advanced a Soul Reaper in training as they. Those could not accept a child being their equal, let alone their better.

The other was a combination of fascination and fear of the little freak with the weird hair, the freakish eyes, and the tremendous raw talent.

Toshiro had never thought of himself as being beyond anyone before, but he would soon come to realize that was only because he had never had any peers to compare himself to.

Throughout that first day he considered deliberately messing up once or twice to try to endear himself more to the other students, but he dismissed the idea as stupid.

All that would accomplish would be to invite laughter and derision. No matter what he did, the odds were stacked against his fitting in./

At the last class of the day Toshiro took a seat near the window so he could stare at the sunset, wishing for home. He did not feel the need to pay attention anymore, seeing as how the classes were excruciatingly easy compared to the previous month.

"Excuse me." a voice said, bringing him out of his reverie. "Are you Toshiro Hitsugaya, the young genius everyone's been talking about?"

Toshiro looked up at the speaker. He appeared to be in his late teens or even early twenties, with long black hair. But more importantly, he was smiling.

Toshiro nodded.

"Nice to meet you. My name's Kusaka."

_One could say that it took so long to get there because of his small legs. Heh._


	6. Chapter 6

Captain Sosuke Aizen pushed open the door to Shunshui Kyoraku's office. He and Jushiro Ukitake were already seated around the desk. Ukitake's glass of sake was half gone while Kyoraku was already pouring himself a second.

"Ah, Aizen! Sit down! I was just telling Jushiro here about my date with Miss Misa last night."

"Do you remember anything? You got so drunk my fourth seat had to walk you home. Lucky he was there, too. I don't think you should be drinking sake again so soon."

"Don't worry about it. And I never forget anything a lady tells me, and Misa was very exited."

"Better humor him, Sosuke." Ukitake said.

Aizen sat down and poured himself a glass. "All right. What's up at the academy that's got Misa so exited?"

"A new prodigy."

Aizen stopped paying attention to the sake falling into his glass. "Really? This late in the year? If it took them this long to determine that he or she is that special, I hardly think this student could stand out that much."

"It would have been very hard for them to determine he was anything special at the beginning, seeing as he wasn't here."

"What do you mean?"

"Oi!" Ukitake exclaimed. "You're spilling, Aizen!"

Aizen scowled as he looked at his haori. The sake he had been pouring had overflowed his glass, spilling onto the table and then himself. The black kimono was fine, but the white haori was stained.

"And these are such a pain to clean."

"Next time you go to the world of the living get some bleach." Ukitake said.

"What's bleach?"

"A substance that cleans and whitens. Actually, quite a few humans asked me if I bleached my hair the last time I was there."

"I'll consider it. What did you mean, 'he wasn't here?'"

Kyoraku pulled the brim of his hat down. "He didn't show up until a month into the term."

'What? And they let him in?"

"Sure did. And not only did he get here a month late, but he's half the age he should be to be allowed to attend."

Aizen took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "That's incredible. Just who is this kid?"/

Perhaps under different circumstances Toshiro would have brushed off Sojiro Kusaka. But with no one else willing to talk to give him the time of day he had little choice.

It was obvious from the start that Kusaka was primarily interested in him for his talent, hoping that either some would rub off on him or that he'd pick up a few pointers from the 'young genius.'

But Toshiro thought that there just might be some truth behind Kusaka's stated desire to be friends. And the dragon seemed to approve. It seemed less restless inside when Kusaka was around.

"So what sword style do you prefer?" Kusaka asked him at lunch the day after they met.

"I don't know. I've never held one."

"What?"

Kusaka looked aghast. "You've been put in the fourth year and you've never fought with a sword-never even held one!"

'Yeah. Is that bad?"

"Um, it's not good. If their's one class you're gonna regret going to, it'll be sword practice. Man, the other students are gonna eat you alive.

"Look, we've got a free period in an hour. Come with me to the dojo and we'll see if I can teach you something. I'm glad you told me before we had sword practice."/

Kusaka handed Toshiro a wooden sword.

"It's the smallest one I could find."

Toshiro grimaced. The blade was almost as long as he was tall, and it was heavier than he had been expecting.

"Man, this is not good. Without a sword made for someone like you it's going to be just another disadvantage.

"Ok. Take a stance like I'm doing now. No, don't spread your hands out that much. And bend your knees a little more. All right. That's good enough. Now try to attack me."

"Maybe you should demonstrate a bit and I'll try to watch." Toshiro suggested.

Kusaka smiled. "Hm. Maybe that's a good idea."

Kusaka raised his sword and with a "hiya!" brought down in an overhand swing. Toshiro watched as he attacked and parried against an imaginary opponent, paying special attention to Kusaka's legwork.

'Yes.' he thought sourly. He was going to need to ask for a smaller sword to be made for him. The bulk and weight of normal swords would throw him off balance too easily.

Kusaka thrust his sword into the heart of his phantom enemy, ending the presentation. He laid his wooden weapon on his shoulders and asked "So what did you think?"

'That seemed kind of slow.' Toshiro thought. "Um, pretty good, I guess."

"Pretty good? I'm one of the five best swordsmen in our year!"

"Wow. I guess I'm lucky to have you as a tutor then."

Kusaka grinned. "Of course. Ready to try it yourself?"

"I think so."

"Then come at me."

They took their stances, Toshiro holding his sword much closer to his body to compensate for its size and weight.

He charged at Kusaka, whose eyes widened in shock. The older boy just blocked the blow, but without enough leverage to push Toshiro away as he had originally planned.

Toshiro backed off, his initial advantage gone. Kusaka took the opportunity to attack, swinging a wide arc with his sword.

Toshiro easily sidestepped it.

Kusaka attacked again, and again Toshiro dodged it.

"Ugh! Are you flash stepping?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. I doubt you learned it yet since you haven't used a sword before. We only learn it after we become proficient enough in combat that it's useful.

Toshiro did not answer. He did not have either the skill or the strength to block Kusaka's attacks with such a large sword, but his reiatsu was so great that they seemed to be in slow motion.

Kusaka growled in frustration as he missed again.

"All right. Let's see you dodge this."

He disappeared. The next instant, Toshiro's sword was knocked out of his hand.

Kusaka held his sword to Toshiro's throat. "That's what we call a flash step. Impressive, isn't it?"

"Not really."

"Nuh-nuh-no way."

Toshiro had somehow taken Kusaka's sword from his hand and was holding it to the older student's throat.

"I-I didn't even see you move."

Toshiro put the sword down. "I take it you yield then."

"Yeah. Fine." Kusaka said nervously. "What did you _do?"_

"A flash step."

"Your flash steps are _that _fast?"

"Actually, I can go even faster."

Kusaka gaped.

"Toshiro, what the hell are you?"


	7. Chapter 7

_Heh. Yes. The name of every OC so far has been taken from Death Note. And I've gotten a number of favorites and alert subscriptions so I don't worry too much about the lack of reviews, though I would prefer people to say what they like or don't like. For instance, my most recent humor piece, Bleach Wars, only has one review. I'd definitely like more._

As with his first sparring match with Kusaka, Toshiro found that his speed allowed him to compensate for his lack of experience enough to end most matches in draws. In all other fields however, he was leagues beyond the rest of the class.

"Man," Kusaka said when the results of the first test Toshiro had taken in the fourth year were posted. "You really are a genius. Top in the class. But I won't let you beat me next time."

Kusaka took the results of the test well, relatively speaking. The day after the results were posted a group of five students accosted Toshiro on his way to breakfast, two of whom blocked his way.

"D'you think you're better than us, you little punk?" the larger one, Deneuve, asked threateningly.

Toshiro said nothing and merely returned their glare. He was instinctively aware of three other students approaching him from behind.

"I asked you a question, pipsqueak."

"If you're asking whether I think I'm more mature than you, the answer is definitely yes."

"Oh, that does it!"

One student grabbed Toshiro from behind, lifting him up by the armpits. Toshiro squirmed, unable to get any leverage. The boy who seized him held him at arms length, too far away for Toshiro to even hit him with a kick.

Deneuve cracked his knuckles. "This'll teach a brat like you to show us up. No bay's going to finish ahead of us."

He hit Toshiro repeatedly in the face and stomach.

"Take that! And that!"

After nearly three minutes of abuse Deneuve relented. "So have you learned your lesson?"

Toshiro glared, a remarkable feat given that both of his eyes were starting to swell, and spat blood at Deneuve. A few teeth flew with it.

Denueve smiled maliciously. "So you want some more, huh? Let's see how many baby teeth you still have.

His fist collided with Toshiro's jaw again, but this time Toshiro did not feel the pain. Something was drowning it out.

The roar of the dragon./

He was on the plain again. The dragon had come closer.

**Child, do you think you can wield me**

"My Zanpakto." Toshiro whispered, having finally made the connection through his studies between the being in his inner world and the personal weapons of the Soul Reapers.

**My name is**/

"You're awake!"

Toshiro blinked. A teenage boy he did not recognize was standing over him.

"You were hurt really bad. The guy who brought you here, Kuku…"

"Kusaka?" Toshiro croaked.

"Yeah. That's it. He was really worried. "And he was right to be. You were bleeding pretty bad internally."

"I must've been. I didn't think I'd black out."

"How do you feel? I did the best I could."

Toshiro examined how he felt. His face was fine, and all of his teeth were back. He discovered when he tried to move, however, that his stomach was far from healed.

"Sorry about that. You're face and teeth were easier to heal because of my Zanpakto's ability."

"Zanpakto? You're a fully trained Soul Reaper?"

"Yeah. Though I'm not very good at fighting. My Zanpakto can't even attack. All it does is heal the injuries of whatever I hit."

"So you could make my teeth regrow by hitting the inside of my mouth but couldn't reach my stomach to do the same?"

The young Soul Reaper scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Pretty much.

"My name's Hanataro Yamada, by the way."

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"So, um, do you think you could write a good recommendation for me?"

"What?"

"Captain Unohana said if I do a good job with you she'll consider making me a seated officer! If that happens, maybe I'll finally get some respect!

"Um, sorry. Just a little excited. The captain's busy now with the people who attacked you."

"Disciplining them?"

"No. Taking care of them. They were in even worse shape than you."

"How-"

"They were frozen solid."/

The five students shivered as they held the blankets and coffee mugs the fourth division captain had given them tight.

"I hope you throw that [expletive deleted] out." Denuuve said.

"And why would we do that?" Captain Unohana asked sweetly. "I don't believe we've ever thrown a student out for defending himself."

"Defending himself! Just look at us! Who was frozen here?"

Captain Unohana's smile widened, her voice grew higher, and the five troublemakers began to shiver from something other than the cold.

"Yes. You were frozen. That means you could not have beaten him to within an inch of his life after then, while it is possible for him to have frozen you and then fainted. Therefore, by process of elimination, you were the aggressors.

"I know it's hard to deal with jealousy, boys, but in the future, you would be wise to avoid picking on people more powerful than you are. If you were in the eleventh division I would not be able to help you."/

The first thing Toshiro did when he was discharged, other than write a glowing, and false recommendation for Hanataro, was to find Kusaka and thank him.

"No problem, man. Though you can be scary sometimes. I don't think I've seen anybody do so much reiatsu damage without a Zanpakto."/

Sosuke Aizen knew he had to see this boy after he heard about the 'frozen meathead' incident, as it came to be called.

He arranged to be able to watch a training session of the fourth years against dummy hollows three months into the semester.

The boy was easy to find. He was by far the smallest member of his class. And he was the only one who didn't gush at the sight of one the captains.

He asked something of the long haired boy next to him, probably who the glasses wearing man in the white haori was.

The answer that it was the captain of the fifth squad did not elicit the response Aizen had expected. Instead of looking at him with wonder and admiration like everyone else, the boy turned to him with narrow, piercing eyes.

Aizen became more intrigued as he watched the session unfold. The boy took the lead, clearly faster than anyone else in the class. Aizen had heard that his sword skills were sub-par, but if that had been the case a month earlier, it was not anymore.

The boy now had a sword appropriate for his size, and it seemed that it had made all the difference in the world. With no weight restricting his movements, he was free to learn any style that suited him, and it showed as Aizen watched the little wooden blade deftly cut through fake monster after fake monster.

And his reiatsu was impossibly high for one so young./

"So how'd it go?" his lieutenant asked him back at the fifth squad barracks.

"It was…interesting."

"So the kid didn't agree to join us?"

"I never approached him."

"Why. I thought you were excited to have another prodigy to wrap around your finger, like that third year girl, only a _real _prodigy this time."

"I was. But his eyes were _too_ intelligent. A little _too _distrusting."

"So you think he'll be trouble down the road."

"That much is certain. It all depends on how long it takes for him to make it to captain level."

"Oh hooo! You think this tyke is that good?"

"He _is _considered the second coming of you for a reason, Gin."

"And after all these decades I'm still a lieutenant."

"Resentful?"

"Not at all. Just pointing out that potential and the final product are usually not the same."

"True. But…"


	8. Chapter 8

Toshiro blocked high, bending one knee slightly to absorb the force of the blow without retreating. He pushed the blade off of his own, forcing his opponent back. He followed up with an upper handed strike powerful enough to send the other sword flying.

Kusaka watched the arc of his sword's flight with a look of disgust.

"You win again. But just wait till I get my Zanpakto. I won't lose that so easily."/

Time was running out.

A month and a half before the deadline, the first student claimed her Zanpakto. Soon more and more were following.

The pressure was on, for all those who did not manifest their Zanpaktos by the middle of the year would be discharged from the academy.

Had he been asked several months earlier, Toshiro would have said that he would have welcomed that outcome. But he could not stand failing at anything, and to do so would leave him right back where he started. The dragon would not remain under his control forever. Already it was making its way closer to the center of his inner world again, bringing the wind with it.

The students who had bonded with their swords, the ones now guaranteed to graduate despite their previous performances, spoke of merely knowing their Zanpakto's name. If that was so, all Toshiro would have to do was hear the dragon.

But he had been hearing the dragon for a year and a half by that point, and he had never been able to make out more than a few words at a time. And there was the question of whether he and the dragon could ever get along.

As luck would have it, one of the five members of Denueve's gang was one of the early ones to claim his Zanpakto, and though the other four were in the same boat as Toshiro, they saw it as enough of a cause to tease him about how he would soon be expelled for not having a sword.

Classes began to be cancelled and students were sent either to the dojos or caves near the academy to meditate on their inner worlds.

Toshiro had no choice but to let the dragon come close again.

The winds blew stronger than ever, forcing Toshiro to cover his face with his arms. The dragon was angry with him for keeping it away for so long.

"I. Will. Not. Fall." Toshiro said to the wind. He would not lose mastership of his inner world. Not to the dragon.

"**Child"**

"Tell me your name!" he yelled.

"**Do you think you can wield me"**

"Yes!"

"**Do you think you can **_**master**_** me"**

Toshiro breathed deeply. He had not expected such a response. He knew the dragon's power was vast, even for a Zanpakto, but to question whether its wielder could control that power was not something he had heard from anyone who had attained their Zanpaktos before, or learned in his studies.

"I banished you! I can control you! I can master you!"

The dragon roared.

"**My name is"**

The wind strengthened again, drowning out the sound.

"Come closer! I order you!"

The dragon stepped towards him, closer than it ever had before. The wind was so intense that Toshiro could not stand remain standing if he had not willed ice to form around his legs, holding him in place.

Toshiro lowered his arms slightly. Blue-green eyes stared into glowing ruby ones only meters apart.

They glared into each other, and the air itself reverberated with their mutual distrust, mutual anger, mutual loathing, and mutual need.

"**My name is"**

"Your name is-"

"_**Hyorinmaru!"**_

Toshiro had screamed the word in the cave he and twelve other students were meditating in. With one hand, he held the sword above his head triumphantly.

It was unusually long, even for a Zanpakto. At nearly a meter and a half long, Hyorinmaru was actually quite a bit longer than Toshiro was tall.

But its weight did not feel heavy like the wooden swords, even though it was made of denser metal. It felt right.

"Toshiro? You got Hyorinmaru as well?"

Toshiro turned around. Kusaka was holding a sword that looked just like his. They had the same shape, the same unusual four pointed star guard. There were a few differences, such as Toshiro's sword being a few inches longer and deeper shades of blue in the handle, but for all intents and purposes they were the same weapon.

"I can't believe we both got the same Zanpakto! How awesome is that?"

Of course Kusaka would be excited. To him it would be proof that he could be an equal to Toshiro. But the younger boy was troubled.

Zanpaktos were spirits born from the souls of their masters. He had never heard of a Zanpakto going to two different Soul Reapers, even if they were both twins./

Their instructors felt the same way.

"What is this?"

"Twin Zanpaktos?"

Kusaka's grin faded quickly as the teachers gathered in a panicked huddle.

"I don't get it. What's wrong?"

"I think I saw in a book somewhere that it's against the law for two Soul Reapers to have the same Zanpakto." Toshiro said. "Though I don't think it's ever really happened before. They probably don't know what to do."/

And when people do not know what to do, they pass the buck.

So the issue was passed along until it reached the high court, Central Forty Six.

The two students stood in the dark chamber, surrounded on all sides by the political establishment of the Seretei.

"There cannot be two Soul Reapers!" one called out to a murmur of agreement.

"One must be chosen!"

"A duel!"

"They must fight!"

"There can be only one!"

"Fight!"

Kusaka was beginning to lose it under the pressure. His palms sweated as they grasped the hilt of his sword.

"No!" Toshiro yelled. "If I must, I'll give up Hyorinmaru!"

Inside, the dragon roared, and Toshiro knew he would never be able to give it up, as much as he may have wished.

But Central Forty Six was not asking for a practice match. These were clearly calls for a duel to the death, and whatever faults he may have had, Kusaka was the only friend Toshiro had in school.

"Fight!"

"Toshiro!" Kusaka screamed. "Hyorinmaru is _mine!"_

The older boy lashed out at his younger friend with a fury he had never used before in his three and a half years at the academy. Toshiro's hands were nowhere near his sword when the attack started, but he had little difficulty in blocking it in time.

"Kusaka," he said sadly, "you know you can't beat me."

Kusaka began pouring his reiatsu into his blade, and Toshiro followed suit. The dragon roared again, not in anger, but this time in pain. Frost began to creep across Kusaka's hands and down his arms.

The older boy jumped back, overwhelmed by Toshiro's reiatsu.

"It is decided." A voice above said.

"What?"

A small army of masked men began to appear between them. Several of them grabbed Toshiro, but the ones near Kusaka drew their swords.

"No." he moaned.'

"Kusaka!" Toshiro screamed.

"I've been faithful! All I would have Done as a Soul Reaper is-"

"You raised your sword first." the same voice from above said without compassion. You let your desire for power cloud your mind."

"I'm sorry!"

"Stop it!" Toshiro yelled, struggling against the men who held him. But again, his size prevented him from doing anything.

Two of the masked men grabbed Kusaka's arms, preventing him from defending himself. He looked at Toshiro with so much regret in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Toshiro. I know I've been using you, but I really did consider you a friend."

"Kusaka."

One of the masked man raised his sword and swung it down.

And it was over.

Even the dragon was silent.


	9. Chapter 9

The next term started with more than one third of the fourth years dismissed. None of the students knew that one of their now missing classmates was no longer among the living.

None except one.

Toshiro was once again alone with no friends. And this time he could easily blame himself for the loss.

Life went on. Classes resumed. But they no longer held any interest for Toshiro. He stopped paying attention, instead daydreaming or staring at the empty seat three rows ahead.

Several teachers noticed his grades dip in the following two weeks and approached him about his performance. But he could not talk to them, for the truth about Kusaka had been hushed up. Even his teachers were under the impression that he had been forced to leave the school, and Toshiro had been sworn to secrecy.

The boring classes were not getting him anywhere, and all around him were reminders of what he had lost.

"I've got to get out of here." he thought.

The question was, how?/

Toshiro stood outside with his sword. He raised it high.

"Go, Hyorinmaru!"

Nothing happened.

"Freeze, Hyorinmaru!"

"Run, Hyorinmaru!

"Bite!

"Chill!

"Breathe fire!"

Toshiro swore after a few hours of waving Hyorinmaru around like an idiot.

"What's wrong?"/

After several days of failure, Toshiro accepted that he would have to reenter his inner world. Though he was loathe to do so, he needed to speak with the dragon, to understand it.

There were strong winds again, but they no longer affected Toshiro.

"**So you have come back"**

"I need to know why you won't appear when I call you!" Toshiro yelled.

The dragon snorted.

"**Did you think it would be so easy? You do not know what I want, what I need"**

"So what is it you need!"

"**To know that, you must defeat me."**

The dragon roared and rose on its hind legs. It spread its wingspan for the first time.

Toshiro held his sword at the ready.

The dragon opened its mouth wide spit out a torrent of ice. Toshiro leapt in the air to avoid it. He swung his sword down as he descended. The dragon glared up at him.

Its red eyes were full of anger…and, Toshiro realized, something else.

The dragon's wings moved to cover it, forming a shield which Toshiro's sword slid off of.

"I see."

Toshiro had already created ice at will the last time he had entered his inner world, so he knew he could do it as well as the dragon. He pointed his sword at the beast and a dome of ice began to form around it.

The dragon roared again, slashing at the barrier until it had destroyed it.

"I see."

He formed another dome, this time smaller. The dragons movements became more violent and its roars more enraged as he caged it again and again.

"Even with those giant wings you're still grounded." Toshiro said. "And dragons need to fly."/

Toshiro knocked on the door to Misa Yagami's office.

"Come in."

She looked like she could not decide whether to be pleased or angry at the sight of him.

"Toshiro. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to be transferred into the sixth year so I can graduate this year."

She looked at him with narrow eyes, the same eyes Toshiro had when he had asked in that very office 'Is this a joke?'

"How did you think I'd take a request like that, young man? You're grades have slipped considerably this past month, and I've heard that you haven't even shown up for any of your classes in two weeks."

"I don't believe they have anything to teach me anymore."

"Really." she said skeptically.

"I haven't been going to class because I've been training on my own."

"What sort of training?"

"I've achieved Shikai."

This caught her attention. "Shikai, you say?"

"Yes."

She sat back in her chair. Toshiro knew that it was enough to impress her. Very few students left the academy having already achieved the Shikai state of their Zanpaktos.

"Would you care to demonstrate, then?"

"Not here." he said. "If you value this building it had better be outside."/

"Very well, Toshiro." Misa said when they were outside. "Show me your Shikai."

Toshiro held his sword above his head.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

Two streams of ice formed around the blade of the Zanpakto, circling it until they met above the tip. Toshiro lowered the sword ninety degrees. The ice burst forth, forming the shape of a giant, frozen dragon with ruby red eyes.

The dragon flew, its twenty meters of length turning through the air like a snake through water.

"Astounding." Misa whispered.

Clouds formed overhead as the dragon continued its flight.

"I think I've seen enough, Toshiro."

He held his sword up again, and the dragon flew into it, becoming seemingly absorbed into the blade again.

"Do you want to see what I can do with Kido now?"

"Kido?"

"When I wasn't practicing to achieve Shikai these past weeks I was working on my kido. I used to think it was useless, but that's only the way they make us learn it here."

He pointed at a bolder thirty meters away.

"Hado thirty one! Red flame cannon!"

A ball of red fire burst from his fingertip, incinerating the boulder completely.

It achieved the desired result. Misa was floored. "A-a thirties level kido, without an incantation!"

"The problem wasn't the level. It was avoiding the incantations. They're just too cumbersome to be useful, but it took a long time before I could cast any spells without them."

Toshiro knew he had won. Sixth year students were only expected to perfect the first twenty five levels of kido spells, and then only with the incantations. In the whole of the Seretei, only the specialized Kido Corps were expected to master kido without incantations./

Aizen frowned as he read the letter again. And here he thought his hold over the girl was stronger than that.

He had arrived early, so as to be there before Hinamori entered the office.

"What is this I hear about you wanting to go home this summer? I thought you liked the internship I provided you with." He said it jokingly, with a smile.

"I do, Captain Aizen. Really. It's just-

"Have you heard about this prodigy in the fourth year?"

Aizen nodded. "Yes. All the captains have been very interested in that one."

"Well, you've probably heard more than I have. We have almost no contact between the different grades here in the academy. But what little I did hear made me think of a friend of mine."

"A friend?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen him in two years, but he's the same age I heard this prodigy is supposed to be."

"I didn't know you had a younger friend."

"I was kind of his only friend, Captain Aizen. I feel bad, being away for so long."

"I see."

"And I want to try to convince him to come to the academy."

"Oh, so now this is a recruitment mission."

"I've tried before, but now that there's someone his own age here it might be easier. He's pretty stubborn."

Aizen chuckled. "Aren't all children that age? Hinamori, we make exceptions to the rules only for very, very special cases. Our current prodigy is already set to graduate with the sixth years in just a few months. Your friend would have to be a comparable prodigy himself to be allowed in at his age."

"I know, sir."

"But I understand. It's very hard to be away from the people you care about. You can definitely go home this summer."

Hinamori bowed. "Thank you, Captain Aizen!"

"Sure thing. So tell me about this little friend of yours. He sounds interesting."

"Um," Hinamori thought, "well I guess what really stands out about him are his eyes."

"His eyes?"

"Yes. They're usually scowling, but when they're not I could swear that they're looking into my soul."

Aizen grinned. "Well, you'd better recruit him then."/

"Gin, how would you feel about becoming a captain?"

Ichimaru Gin raised an eyebrow. "Me, a captain?"

"Yes." Aizen said. "I've kept you here for far too long. You deserve your own squad."

"But don't you need a lieutenant who will do your dirty work for you, Captain Aizen?"

"A captain who will do that will be much more useful in the long run. And at the moment I will need to have the lieutenant's position open."

Gin smiled that strange, creepy smile of his. "Oh, what do you need a new lieutenant for?"

"I believe I have found young Mister Hitsugaya's weakness."


	10. Chapter 10

The sixth year curriculum was not that much more interesting or challenging than the fourth. Toshiro was still far above anyone in the class at kido and flash stepping, and he was the only one to have attained Shikai.

As he had expected, the sixth year students were as resentful of his abilities as the fourth years had been, even more so do to his presence stealing the thunder from their impending graduation into becoming bona fide Soul Reapers.

But the proximity to the end of the school year was still more of a blessing than a curse for Toshiro. It meant he would soon be leaving the academy for good. He spent his spare time practicing his sword skills and his mastery of his attacks in Shikai form.

Six weeks before the end of the term the thirteen captains came to inspect the graduating class. For the most part they merely watched a training session where all of the sixth year students battled the toughest dummy hollows the academy had, but every year several captains stayed to speak with several students who had caught their eye.

That year nearly every captain, with the exception of the captain of the Second Division, Soifon, stayed to speak with the prodigy and form their own impressions of him.

Captain Unohana of the fourth division smiled sweetly and told Toshiro in a frighteningly sweet voice that she was glad he had avoided getting into fist fights with his peers over the second half of the year and expressed her hope that that trend would continue.

The Head Captain, Genryusai Shegekuni Yamamoto, admired his Zanpakto, saying that it was the opposite of his own, the greatest fire type Zanpakto in existence.

The Captain of the Third Division, only recently appointed, Ichimaru Gin, smiled rather creepily and said that he looked forward to working with the greatest prodigy since himself and that he'd save the lieutenant position of his squad for Toshiro. He also congratulated Toshiro on beating his record for the fastest graduation. Gin had set the previous record by doing so in a year, but Toshiro had missed the first month of the school year even if one counted his private sessions with Matsuda and was thus the only student in the history of the academy to graduate in less than a year.

The Captain of the Fifth Division, Sosuke Aizen, told Toshiro that he enjoyed working with prodigies in the past and that if he was anything like Gin the Seretei had gained a valuable asset.

The Captain of the Sixth Division, Byakuya Kuchiki, merely said that he had talent before walking off with the same expression of indifference on his face.

The Captain of the Seventh Division, Sajin Komamura, whose face was hidden by a basket hat he wore over his head, said that he enjoyed watching young Soul Reapers grow, and that they'd all be keeping an eye on him.

The Captain of the Eighth Division, Shunsei Kyoraku, said that he regretted that Toshiro could not join his squad, but his lieutenant expressly forbid any minors from being in their division. (He neglected to say it was because she was worried about the influence her captain would have on the impressionable youth.)

The Captain of the Ninth Division, the blind Kaname Tosen, said that he hoped Toshiro would contribute to the peace and justice of the Seretei. Toshiro muttered about the justice of Central Forty Six under his breath.

There was no captain of the Tenth Division, which surprised Toshiro.

The Captain of the Eleventh Division, Kenpachi Zaraki, said with a malicious grin that he hoped Toshiro would be able to give him a good fight when he grew up.

The Captain of the Twelfth Division, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, told him that Toshiro that he looked forward to studying how the boy became so advanced at such a young age and what the secret of his hair was.

The Captain of the Thirteenth Division, Jushiro Ukitake, told Toshiro how glad he was to have another "Whitey" around (Toshiro had to literally bite his tongue to keep from yelling at the long haired captain) and then somehow pulled mountains of sweets out from under his robes and stuffed them into Toshiro's arms.

"Wha-how did you hold all this?" Toshiro asked, swaying under the weight of the candies and torn between fury and curiosity.

"If you like I've got even more at my division barracks!"

"No, thank you. This is enough. Really. I mean it. I mean it! This is enough! Arg!"/

The graduation ceremony was surprisingly simple and subdued. Each graduate would be called up by name to receive their uniform, a black kimono, and would then be told their division assignments. No captains were present, nor were any other grades. This was done to impress on the graduates that they should not think too much of themselves for becoming Soul Reapers. Many who did so never amounted to much.

The greatest deviation from a regular attendance call, other than the black kimonos, was that the students' names were called not by alphabetical order, but by their placement in the class.

Toshiro's name was first.

Though the kimonos given out were tailor made for each graduate, Toshiro knew from the moment he held his that it had been made too big for him.

After putting it on, Toshiro was beckoned to a board which had the names of the graduates divided into their new squads.

To his surprise, Toshiro was not in squad one, three, five, seven, eight, nine, or thirteen.

He was in the Sixth Division.

Wondering how he had gotten placed with the captain who had barely seen fit to say a word to him, Toshiro found the Soul Reaper who was to guide the new members of his division to their barracks.

The man laughed hysterically when he saw Toshiro, whose face turned red.

"And who are _you _supposed to be? The captain of the junior division?"

As much as Toshiro wanted to gut the man with Hyorinmaru, he knew that he could not be entirely blamed for laughing. As Toshiro had thought, the sleeves covered his arms entirely and the bottom dragged on the ground, creating an extremely comical image.

The rest of the new draftees into the Sixth Division agreed.

"All right." the experienced Soul Reaper said. "Settle down. One thing you need to know about Captain Kuchiki is that he very much likes order. Cause a ruckus at you're peril. Now let's move."/

Captain Byakuya Kuchiki was waiting for them at the entrance to the Sixth Division Barracks.

"Welcome." he said.

"You have all been chosen for the privilege of serving in the Sixth Division. Do not take it lightly.

"I expect and demand nothing short of the best from my subordinates. Anyone who cannot meet my expectations will be disciplined until they do or transferred to another division.

"If my words are making you have second thoughts then you should have thought of that before you entered the academy. You have chosen to perform the sacred duties of the Soul Reapers, an occupation that is not to be entered into lightly.

"Do your best, and things will go smoothly. Fail to do so, and you will suffer my…displeasure. Dismissed!"

Captain Kuchiki then walked though the tinning crowd, straight at Toshiro. His senses were keen enough to sense the boy even with all of the other Soul Reapers in the area.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Yes, sir."

"Come with me."

Toshiro had to jog to keep up with the quick and silent strides of Captain Kuchiki.

"Many captains wanted you in their divisions. Did you know that?"

"Yes, sir."

"But I argues that they would not provide appropriate environments for you to realize your potential. The Head Captain agreed with me. Gin Ichimaru languished for decades in a post beneath him because he had the wrong captain to start out with."

"I see, sir. Where are we going?"

"The division training grounds. I wish to see just how strong you are."

They arrived quickly. Captain Ukitake and a black haired girl were waiting for them.

"You will be fighting my younger sister."

Toshiro looked at his new captain, then at the girl, then back again.

"Do not underestimate a member of the Kuchiki clan, boy. It would be a fatal mistake."

"Are you sure he can fight like this, brother?" the girl asked. "He won't be able to hold a sword in those clothes."

Captain Kuchiki took a long, hard look at Toshiro.

"For now, remove your kimono. We shall have a new one made for you that will fit properly, and when you receive that you will treat it as a uniform to be worn at all times while on duty. But for now dress in a way that allows you to fight."

Toshiro gratefully threw off the kimono, revealing the students' uniform underneath.

The captains went off to the sidelines while the combatants faced each other.

"Rukia Kuchiki." the girl said, bowing.

He bowed back. "Toshiro Hitsugaya."/

"Thank you for agreeing to this." Byakuya said to Ukitake.

"Not at all. I had to hurry over here after meeting my own recruits, but I'm as curious as you are. This kid's first battle with a real Soul Reaper should prove interesting to say the least. And a clash between two ice type Zanpakto is a rare thing indeed."/

Toshiro and Rukia stared each other down, swords at the ready. For several minutes neither moved a muscle.

Toshiro's took his eyes off of his opponent for an instant to look at the two captains watching them.

"Focus on the one you are fighting!"

Rukia had attacked immediately upon seeing his distraction, charging and bringing her sword down in an overhead strike. Toshiro blocked the blow high and was forced to back up half a step.

They gritted their teeth as they continued to push their swords against each other.

Toshiro leaned forward, twisting his wrists so as to force both swords into the ground. It worked, leaving Rukia's sword pinned in a useless position.

He took the opportunity to swipe at her, which she only avoided by leaping back.

They returned to their guarded positions, the first blows traded without injury./

"He did that deliberately." Ukitake said. "He wanted Rukia to attack first."

"True." Byakuya said. "Despite what you told her to expect, she does seem to be thinking of him as just a child."/

Toshiro started the second part of the fight, leaping above her and bringing his sword crashing down.

Rukia stumbled back under the blow, and Toshiro followed up with an underhanded swipe that knocked her sword out of her hands.

Never one to panic, Rukia leapt back, somersaulting and catching her sword one handed at the same time. She landed with such grace that an observer would have been fooled into thinking that she had meant to lose her sword in the first place.

"Is that all you've got?" Toshiro asked. "Stop holding back."

Rukia was flustered. Sure, her initial attack had merely been meant to gauge Toshiro's skill, but at the moment she was barely holding her own with all of her skills and experience.

Rukia held her sword out and began to twist it in a counterclockwise direction.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

A long white ribbon appeared on the hilt of her Zanpakto, flowing in the opposite direction of the turning sword. Toshiro resumed a defensive position, waiting for her Shikai attack.

Rukia held her blade upside down and stabbed it into the ground.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

A large, glowing white circle appeared under Toshiro, who quickly jumped out of it. Less than a second after he was clear, a pillar of ice shot up from the circle, traveling all the way up to the heavens.

'No one told me she also had an ice type Zanpakto!' he thought as he landed. He had no respite, as another glowing circle appeared under him almost immediately.

'She's fast. I'm barely to dodge that attack once, but she just keeps it coming, giving me no chance to counter.'

The fourth circle Rukia summoned underneath Toshiro formed as he was still in the air from his last leap.

'Damn it! No way to dodge this one!'

Toshiro swung his sword down at the pillar of ice shooting towards him, pouring his reiatsu into the sword. There was a sound of thunder as metal met ice and the pillar shattered from the top down.

"No way…" Rukia whispered as she watched her attack be stopped by someone who was not even using Shikai.

Toshiro breathed a sigh of relief when he landed.

'So…her attacks sacrifice power for speed.'

Rukia was already preparing another attack, causing several white lights to drop from her sword into the ground. Toshiro raised his sword as Rukia pointed hers at him.

"Tsugi no mai…"

"Reign over the frosted heavens…"

"Hakuren!"

"Hyorinmaru!"

A torrent of ice shot out of Rukia's Zanpakto, even larger than the dragon Toshiro had formed when he had demonstrated his Shikai to Misa. It raced towards him at blinding speed.

Toshiro held his sword straight out in front of him. The torrent of ice burst around him, swirling for several seconds.

Rukia's eyes widened as she watched her attack merely circle the boy before coalescing again at the tip of his blade.

Toshiro slashed his sword in Rukia's direction, redirecting her attack back at her. She stared in open mouthed horror as the ice was about to envelop her.

A flash of pink lights appeared in front of Rukia. The torrent of ice broke upon it like water upon rock.

"Brother!" Rukia breathed.

"That is enough." Captain Kuchiki told the combatants. "I have seen all that I needed to see. Captain Ukitake and I still have things to discuss, but for now I wish to speak to Hitsugaya. Rukia, you may stay with your captain or return to your squad."/

Captain Kuchiki led Toshiro to the other end of the training grounds where no one could hear them.

"You are hereby assigned the position of fifth seat of squad six."

"Thank you, sir."

"Additionally, from now on, I will personally be taking charge of your training."

Toshiro looked inquisitively at the captain. He wished the man would have some form of expression on his face that would tell Toshiro what to think. A part of Toshiro was scared that Byakuya Kuchiki had not taken the defeat of his sister well.

"You will report to me here at sixteen hundred hours every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday."

"Yes, sir. Um, sir, may I ask when I start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh. Um….um…can I make a request, sir?"

Captain Kuchiki raised an eyebrow.

"You may always make requests. Whether they will be fulfilled is another story."

"I'd like to be able to go home for a little while."

Captain Kuchiki's face was like a statue. Now Toshiro _really_ wished the man would have an expression.

"I left my grandmother. She doesn't know that I graduated in a year, so she'd be expecting me to come back during the summer. And she wasn'tdoing very well the last time I saw her."

Though his expression _still_ remained the same, Captain Kuchiki looked over at where his sister was talking with Captain Ukitake.

"Very well. You may take a short leave of absence. In the future, I will require notice several weeks in advance when you have similar requests."

Toshiro bowed. "Thank you, sir."/

"Don't feel bad." Captain Ukitake told Rukia. "Your brother only wanted get a sense of how powerful his Zanpakto is. His pride is not hurt in the slightest, anymore than it would be if you lost to _me."_

Captain Kuchiki came back alone. "Captain Ukitake." The two captains began walking together.

"So." Captain Kuchiki said when they were out of Rukia's earshot.

"It was impressive."

"Yes. You have told me before that Rukia's Zanpakto is one of the most powerful ice types you have ever seen in your two thousand years."

"It is. Top ten easily. But that kid's; it's at a whole other level. He doesn't just create ice. He was able to manipulate the ice and moisture all around him, even her fast moving attack. That makes his Zanpakto as far above other ice types-"

"As the head captain's is above other fire types."

"Yes."

They stopped.

"Byakuya, that boy will make a good lieutenant for you."

"No."

"What?"

For the first time that day, Byakuya Kuchiki had an expression, even if it was just a furrowed brow.

"I am not Sosuke Aizen. That boy will never be my lieutenant."/

When he looked back, Toshiro thought that he had taken so long to get to the Seretei because he had not wanted to go in the first place. He had no such problem when heading home.

And now he had a flash step that would make most Soul Reapers jealous.

He could not wait to show his grandmother his new uniform and tell her how he was a record breaker, the youngest graduate in history, the youngest seated officer in history. She would be so proud.

Proud?

It was the first time since he had left his home that he had thought that word. It was strange. Most people would have been exceedingly proud to have accomplished what he had in less than a year.

So why did he not experience that feeling?/

"I'm home!" Toshiro said for the first time in a year.

"Granny?"

The house was not as messy as he remembered it, which was to be expected, given that the only small child there had left.

But the food in the kitchen reeked from being spoiled.

"Granny?"

And now that he took a good look at the furniture, he found it all covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Granny, where are you?"/

The storm surprised Hinamori.

It wasn't the suddenness of the clouds that were so dark they made day seem like night. Or the thunder that shook the ground.

It was the thick snow.

"What is this? It's summer!"

The storm slowed her down for the last hour on her way home. But it began to clear when she finally neared the small village.

It looked pleasanter than she remembered it, being covered in twenty centimeters of snow. She smiled at the sight of several children engaging in a snowball fight.

When she reached the house, she found it empty.

"Where are they?"

Wondering if her little friend was playing in the snow by himself, Hinamori stepped into the backyard. Her hands immediately shot up to cover her mouth.

There, in the snow, was a large mound that had not been there two years earlier. Above it was a stone grave marker.


	11. Chapter 11

The graveyard was deceptively quiet as Toshiro flash stepped between the gravestones. His size made them perfect for using to sneak around.

There, on an unused patch of land, were his targets.

Careful to keep his reiatsu concealed, he flash stepped back to where his men were stationed.

"Did you find the hollows, Fifth Seat Hitsugaya?"

"Yes. There's eight of them."

"Eight!"

Do to their higher concentration of spirits, graveyards attracted more hollows than most other areas, and spawned them as well from the souls of those who died with regrets, so it was only natural for a large group of them to congregate in one.

"There's a good thirty meters of clearing before the hollows, and the tombstones nearby are too small for the rest of you to hide behind. Leave this to me."

"But sir!"

"Yes?"

"We're here to fight, not sit back and watch!"

"I know. But if you come with me we'll lose the element of surprise. Even if you could use the tombstones none of your flash steps are fast enough for a thirty meter sprint."

"So you're going to take on all eight by yourself?" another man asked.

"It won't be a problem. But if it looks like I'm having trouble the rest of you can jump in. By that point surprise won't matter anymore."

"Understood, sir." the men said, frustration in most of their voices./

Despite his bravado, it was a long flash step even for Toshiro.

He had wanted to cut down at least three of the hollows before they knew he was there, but had to settle for only one.

The remaining seven hollows immediately attacked, and he spun around three hundred and sixty degrees with his Zanpakto, forcing them to back off and killing the one that had come closest.

The hollows took up positions completely surrounding him.

"Is this a joke?" one asked sarcastically. "Sending a single child to destroy us?"

"I am not just a child."

The dragon roared, begging to be set loose, to fly.

Toshiro leapt at the hollow that had called him a child, which retreated. The other five hollows made to attack him from behind.

"Fifth Seat Hitsugaya!"

His men were moving to defend him, but Toshiro had already flash stepped behind the hollows and had slain two more before they could react.

One hollow opened its mouth as it lunged at Toshiro, attempting to swallow him whole, a mistake which cost it its life. Toshiro then blocked a swipe from another hollow and followed up with an underhanded blow through its head.

Toshiro's men merely stood open mouthed as they watched their superior in action. The last three hollows began to run away in opposite directions. Toshiro flash stepped after the two that had stuck together, dispatching them with ease.

The final hollow, the only one that had talked, had gotten far enough away that Toshiro could not flash step after it.

"Should we take it out, sir?" one of the men asked.

"No need."

Toshiro sheathed his sword and extended both hands at the hollow.

"Hado number thirty three! Blue fire, crash down!"/

Captain Kuchiki found his fifth seat busy with paperwork.

"I read the reports of your first mission in the world of the living."

"Yes. The hollows were all taken care of."

"But only by you."

Toshiro put his pen down. "Is that a problem, Captain?"

"You were leading a team of six."

"I thought that they'd be in too much danger without the element of surprise. We were outnumbered."

"And yet you did not use your Shikai at all."

"It did not prove necessary."

"Do you think so highly of your abilities compared to others?"

Toshiro looked at his paperwork.

"Part of being a leader is knowing how to work in a team, Hitsugaya. Your subordinates are there to assist you in battle, not to be spectators. A good strategist or tactician would find a way for them to contribute."

"I know that, Captain."

"Then what happened?"

Toshiro sighed.

"I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"Of someone else dying because of me."

"That is an understandable concern for any soldier. However, every Soul Reaper takes there positions knowing that they may have to lay down their lives. If they did not, they would not stay in my squad for long."

"I understand, sir."

"This was your first mission, so I will excuse your behavior this time. Do not let it happen again."

"I won't, Captain."

"Good. Remember, your first training session with me is this afternoon. Do not be late."/

"A search party?"

Misa Yagami regarded the girl in front of her skeptically.

"Please." Hinamori said. "I'm very worried about him. His grandmother's gone, and he's all alone. I'm afraid he'll do something that will get himself hurt."

"We only send out search parties in response to serious incidents such as hollow attacks. A single missing child does not qualify as such."

"Please!"

Misa sighed. "I won't make any guarantees, but we'll see what we can do. What is the name of your young friend?"

"Thank you! It's Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Toshiro…Hitsugaya?"

Hinamori nodded.

"Does he have white hair, by any chance?"

"Yes! How did you-"

Misa began to laugh. "You didn't know? Oh! I know _exactly_ where Toshiro Hitsugaya is!"

"Really?"

"Of course! He's at the Sixth Division right now."

"What?"

Misa smiled broadly. "Toshiro Hitsugaya was just made the fifth seat of squad six. He's the young prodigy we had last term."

"But I-he-he was here the whole of last year?"

"Not the whole year, actually. He arrived late. It's funny, though. He never mentioned he had a friend here. Though it may explain why did not want to start out in the third year."

"But why? I mean, he always _hated_ the idea of becoming a Soul Reaper."

"Interesting. Not once last year did he seem happy. In fact there were times he was positively miserable. But none of us really had a choice, him with regards to coming and us with regards to accepting him. His abilities were out of control."

"I can't believe it."

"Toshiro was the single most gifted student to have come through the academy in my time. Almost upon arrival he was heralded as the next Gin Ichimaru."

"I'm glad to hear he's all right. But do you know whether his grandmother was still alive when he got here last year?"

Misa looked down. "I believe she was. Unless my memory is failing the Soul Reaper who recruited him said that he came so that his powers would not hurt his grandmother."

"So he was here when she died."

"Yes. Unfortunately, these things happen."

"Do you think you could ask Captain Kuchiki for me if I could visit him?"

"Probably not. You won't find a stricter captain than Byakuya Kuchiki. But maybe he'll let Toshiro come to see you."/

Toshiro went to the training field as soon as he was done with the paperwork for the day. He arrived six minutes early, but Captain Kuchiki was already there.

"You're punctual. That is good."

The captain stepped to the center of the field, followed by Toshiro.

"Am I correct in assuming that you were not truly challenged at the academy?"

"Yes, sir. Most of what I learned was from studying on my own."

"That does not surprise me. The academy is geared towards the lowest common denominator, and is thus not a suitable environment for those who are truly gifted. Coming from a noble house, I was fortunate to not have to deal with the academy. My instruction was entirely private.

"Now, Toshiro Hitsugaya. Prepare yourself. It is my intention to push you to your limits for the first time in your life. I will not hold back because of your age, and I will not hesitate because you have suffered a momentary lapse."

"I didn't expect you to, Captain."

They slowly drew their swords. Toshiro took a two handed stance while captain Kuchiki held his Zanpakto to the side loosely.

Toshiro glued his eyes to his opponent's weapon. It's Shikai had already proven able to block his own with ease.

"Begin."

The word had not finished leaving Byakuya Kuchiki's mouth when his sword crashed into Toshiro's inches from the latter's face.

Toshiro grunted. It had taken all of his strength to block just the first attack, and the captain was only using one hand.

But he had managed to not give any ground by the time he pushed Captain Kuchiki's sword away. Toshiro followed up with an attack of his own, which Captain Kuchiki leapt over.

He had not leapt high at all, and Toshiro swiped at him in the air. But it missed.

'No way!' Toshiro thought. Captain Kuchiki just stared at him with the same expressionless face as always.

'He dodged it in _midair!_ I never considered aerial maneuverability like that!'

"**You never considered flying yourself?" **the dragon asked.

"Shut up."

"What was that?" Captain Kuchiki asked. "I did not say anything."

"Nothing, sir."

The next thing Toshiro knew, he was ducking from a blow meant to decapitate him.

"Do not get distracted. I said I will not hesitate."

Blow after blow rained down on Toshiro, who was forced to retreat. It was all he could do to keep up with his captain's speed enough to block his attacks. Counter-attacking was out of the question.

One blow was so powerful that it sent Toshiro flying. He landed hard on his back.

Toshiro groaned as he stood up. AT least he had held onto his sword.

He saw what had made that attack so much more powerful than all of the previous ones. Captain Kuchiki had finally added his other hand to his sword.

"Perhaps this would be a good time to use your Shikai."

"**Yes" **the dragon said.

"**Let me at him Let me fly"**

"Are you going to use your Shikai, Captain?"

"Not today."

"Then neither will I."

Captain Kuchiki raised one eyebrow.

"You mean to push my limits. Well, they're not going to be pushed if I start throwing ice around whenever things get a little rough."

"Very well. But you will regret that decision soon."

Toshiro charged, holding his sword out in front of him. Captain Kuchiki lazily held his blade out to block, but five meters away Toshiro disappeared.

"What?"

The captain slightly turned his head and brought his sword behind him, just in time to fend off Toshiro's real attack.

"An impressive flash step."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

Toshiro disappeared again, and this time Captain Kuchiki was forced to block a swipe at his left ankle. He attempted to stab the boy, but he flash stepped out of the way as the Zanpakto strick the ground underneath.

Toshiro appeared above Captain Kuchiki, who's sword was still stuck in the ground, useless for defending at that angle. "Got you!"

But his blade struck nothing but air as he brought it down.

"I am surprise. I did not expect to be forced to use my own flash step in our first session." Captain Kuchiki said from behind.

"Yeah. I seem to surprise everybody."

"DO not get overconfident, boy." Captain Kuchiki raised his sword with both hands. "As you are about to learn, your flash step pales in comparison to that of a captain's."/

Lying in the Fourth Division hospital as he recovered overnight from the injuries the training session had left him with, Toshiro decided that of all the duties he had to perform as a Soul Reaper, from missions, to training, to meetings, his favorite was paperwork.

Not that it was fun. In fact, it was one of the most boring things he could imagine. But while he was busy with it he did not have to wear, speak with, listen to, or think about his Zanpakto.

"**What will be your excuse for not using me tomorrow"**

"I keep telling you to shut up."

"**Your captain will berate you for not releasing your Zanpakto because you cannot bear to look at it, boy"**

"Do _not_ call me boy. I am your master."

The dragon humphed indignantly.

"**A master who refuses to use me"**

"There will be times that I have no choice. But you're coming out as little as possible. Just accept that and leave me _alone."_

"**That's it, is it not, **_**master"**_

"What?"

"**You **_**are **_**alone"**


	12. Chapter 12

"Captain Kuchiki did not tell me what this was about." Toshiro said.

"He doesn't know, himself." Misa Yagami said. "I figured it would be easier to get his approval for a general request than to go into specifics."

"So what am I here for? I don't much like being back in the academy."

"An old friend wants to talk to you."

Toshiro stopped.

"I was called away from my squad because a student wanted to _talk_ to me?"

Misa smiled. "I see you already know who I'm talking about."

"There's only one person it could possibly be."

"Men." Misa sighed. "I'll never understand the need of your kind to handle everything yourselves instead of confiding in friends."/

"Whitey!"

Hinamori had practically jumped on Toshiro when she saw him.

"Hina.." he breathed. "Mori…cho…choke…"

She let go. "Sorry, but it's been so long! Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

Toshiro massaged his throat. "For one, I value breathing."

Hinamori smiled. "I couldn't believe it when I heard my little Whitey had already graduated and become a seated officer."

"And as a seated officer," Toshiro growled, "you can't call me 'Whitey' anymore."

"Force of habit. I'm going to slip every now and then."

Toshiro sighed. "Is that all. I don't have much time. I'd better get back to my squad."

"But you're only a fifth seat! How much work can you possibly have?"

"I'm effectively the lieutenant in all but name."

Hinamori was confused. "How does that work?"

"The Sixth Division doesn't have a lieutenant, and I'm the next most powerful officer after the captain. So I get the most dangerous missions, the paperwork, and anyone who has a complaint brings it to me to bring to the captain."

"So why does Captain Kuchiki keep you as the fifth seat? Why doesn't he promote you to lieutenant, or at least higher?"

Toshiro shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he feels I'm only as strong as a fifth seat level and won't promote me even though I'm the best he's got. I don't know how I compare to other officers or lieutenants, seeing as how the only person from another division I've fought so far wasn't even a seated officer.

"So how has your fourth year been going so far?"

"Oh, it's been great! I'm top in the class at kido, and I've already got my Zanpakto! Her name's Tobiume."

"Really? It was much closer to the deadline before I got mine."

Toshiro looked away at the mention of the process by which students claimed their Zanpaktos. It had only been nine months since the death of Kusaka.

"Toshiro…"

He looked back at her. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry about your granny. I cried so much when I heard."

He did not respond.

"Please, Toshiro, don't blame yourself."

"What?"

"It was really hard for me, but I can only imagine what it's like for you. With you being here at the time, it wouldn't surprise me if you felt guilty for not being home with her. I felt that way when I thought you were wandering Rugunkai by yourself."

Toshiro turned around. "I've got to go."

"All right. But come back to see me every once in a while!"/

"You're back earlier than expected." Captain Kuchiki said. "That is good."

"What's happened, Captain?"

"We've just received orders from the First Division. A menos has appeared in the world of the living, in Europe."

"A menos!"

"Yes. A joint team from the Sixth and Tenth Divisions is being sent to deal with it. I was just about to send for you."

"Understood, sir. We'll take care of it."

"There is one more thing, Hitsugaya. Because of the location of the appearance of the menos, it is feared that one of the souls that have become a part of it is becoming dominant. It may be on the verge of becoming an arrancar."

"So time is of the essence."

"Yes. If it transforms before it can be destroyed both squads are ordered to retreat back to the Soul Society."

"I'll see to it that doesn't happen, sir."/

Toshiro and his men had to wait at the gate to the world of the living for a while before the Tenth Squad finally arrived, led by the same orange haired woman who had found him in the village.

"Hey, you! Long time no see!"

"This is not the time for pleasantries. We were supposed to have left ten minutes ago."

"Sorry. It's very hard to keep the squad organized without a captain."

Toshiro turned to the kido corps members in charge of the gate. "We're ready. Open it up."

He and the woman took the point into the precipice world. Their subordinates followed two by two.

"When I found you I sure didn't expect us to be working as equals so soon." she said as they ran through the dimension between the Soul Society and the world of the living.

"You're also a fifth seat, Matsumoto, is it?"

She nodded. "Rangiku Matsumoto. Though I'll be a lieutenant soon."

"Really."

"I'm strong enough, though I wouldn't bother if Gin didn't go to the Third Division instead of ours."

"You call Captain Ichimaru by his first name?"

"Sure. We've been friends forever. Though I owe him a good kick in the backside for not wanting me in his squad."

'So she's at the level of a lieutenant.' Toshiro thought. "Have you fought a menos before?"

"Once, a long time ago."

"Then I'll differ to you."

"Heh. It went horribly the last time I did this, so I doubt that counts for much. Of course, I _am_ much stronger now."

"So what's so special about this place, Buchenwald?"

When she did not answer he asked again.

"Well, you see, there have been many times when humans go and kill each other for no reason. A lot of people were butchered there. We think that maybe this menos is there because the spirit that is taking control was killed there. It's been so long since the killings that there's no longer any souls around to eat, and the nearby living population is not large enough to attract a menos compared to other areas like New York or Tokyo. It's weird. It hasn't moved very much since it appeared."

"So the spirit taking control is there for revenge?"

"Possibly. Though there's no one there to take revenge on anymore."/

Toshiro had never experienced anything like that reiatsu. Several of their weaker subordinates had actually fallen to their knees upon feeling it.

"That thing's got to be on the verge of transforming." Rangiku said.

"Agreed" Toshiro said. "We have to move quickly."

"All right!" Rangiku called out to the men. "I want everyone behind the menos!"

"Use the highest level restriction bakudo spell you know to keep it in place!" Toshiro finished. "Full incantations; don't sacrifice the power of the spells."

"Once it's restrained Toshiro and I will take it from there."

"Yes ma'am." "Yes, sir!"

The men flash stepped away to get around the menos. When they were alone Toshiro said "In the future call be by my title. It's hard enough earning their respect with my height."

"Sorry. Slip of the tongue. By the way, I hope your Shikai is up for this, because mine is kind of useless against a foe that big."

Toshiro's mouth dropped. "You're joking."

"Nope. That's its weakness. Large opponents aren't affected much."

"Great." Toshiro gripped the handle of his Zanpakto. "So it's up to my Shikai, unless one of us wants to risk getting up close and personal with a cero blast."

"Yup. If we could get to the head neither of us would need our Shikais, but that attack is just nasty."

The menos screamed as a string of light entrapped it.

"Here we go."

More spells appeared around the menos. Soon it was being held down by chains, lights, barriers, and a host of other enchantments.

"Time to go!" Toshiro yelled, kicking off the ground towards the menos.

He held his sword high as he flew towards the overgrown hollow.

A burst of wind blew him back.

The menos glowed as it squirmed, the bonds around it breaking.

Rangiku caught Toshiro before he hit the ground.

"You all right?"

"Don't worry about me! We're too late! It's transforming!"

'Dammit.' he thought. "I hesitated with the Shikai too long!'

The menos shrunk, and Rangiku called out to the men. "Fall back! Come on, Toshiro!"

"Wait."

"What?"

"Let's see its transformation first."

"Are you nuts! Our orders were to retreat if this happened! It's going to be stronger than both of us combined!"

"You said their was no one for it to get revenge on." Toshiro said.

"Yes. So?"

"And it hasn't attacked anyone, even though it was just a mindless menos."

"What's your point?"

"I don't think it's going to hurt anyone."

"Toshiro…"

The winds died down, leaving a cloud of dust where the menos had stood. As it cleared, it revealed the form of a teenage girl, physically not much older than Hinamori. She had a hole in her chest and a piece of a mask over one of her eyes.

"A vasto lordes." Rangiku breathed.

The new arrancar looked around worriedly. "Shmuel?" she called out. "Shmuel?"

"She still remembers her past life." Toshiro said. "Her need to find what she's looking for must be overwhelming."

Stifling a gulp, Toshiro sheathed his sword and began to step cautiously towards the girl.

"Who're you?" she panicked when she saw him. "Where's my brother?"

Toshiro held out his hands, showing that he meant no harm. "Calm down. I may know where your brother is. Tell me what happened."

"They put us in two lines. Men in one, women and children in the other. I told my little brother to go with me, that I'd look after him, but…but…"

She broke down.

"It was the women and children they killed." Toshiro said.

"Yes! I killed him! I killed Shmuel!"

Toshiro frowned. The souls that became hollows almost invariably lost all sense of self control, assuming they were good people to start put with. By the time one became an arrancar, it would have long been conditioned to think of humans as nothing more than cattle to be slaughtered and eaten.

But this one's grief and guilt were so great that they overrode the basic instincts of the hollow species.

"Listen," Toshiro said, bending down to speak to her from a comforting position, "it was not your fault. You did everything you could for him. But there are times when there's nothing any person can do."

She looked at him with eyes red with tears.

"I'm dead, too, right? I remember dying."

"Yes. You are."

"So are you an angel?"

"Yes." Toshiro answered. "I'm an angel of death, meant to help souls that are bound to this world pass on."

"Pass on?"

"Yes. Your brother is in a better place right now. The reason you did not pass on from the beginning is because you had such a huge regret it bound you to this spot. If you pass on now you can see your brother again."

"Really?"

"Yes. Close your eyes. I promise it won't hurt."

She complied, and Toshiro drew his sword. He hesitated, but not out of fear.

There was a philosophical debate in Soul Society that had been raging as far back as anyone could remember and beyond.

Was it just for the souls of hollows that had consumed people to be admitted to the Soul Society upon their destruction via Zanpakto?

In this case, Toshiro knew the answer was yes.

"Nice going." Rangiku said when it was over.

Toshiro did not look at her as he passed. Rangiku stared after him, concern showing on her face.

"You sounded a little _too_ serious about being an angel of death, though."

"I did not expect to be killing the innocent in this job."

"I know. This is a very rare occurrence. It happens at most once every few centuries."

"I had forgotten that hollows were once people, too."

"That happens to us all."

'But you saw that there was something still human about this one almost from the start.' Rangiku thought as he summoned a portal back to the Soul Society. 'Not one Soul Reaper in a thousand has enough empathy to ever take the time to consider a hollow as anything other than an enemy.'

"We do everything we can." Toshiro said to himself. "But sometimes even for us it's not enough. These things just happen."

"This isn't the only thing you feel guilty about, is it, Toshiro?"/

_It'll probably be a few days before I can update again. If the streak breaks tomorrow I apologize._


	13. Chapter 13

Toshiro blocked the attack from behind. The force of the blow sent him skidding back. He struck his sword into the ground to stop himself.

"So you have finally begun to see through my flash step." Captain Kuchiki said.

"A little." The truth was that Byakuya Kuchiki had a tendency to use the same moves in combat, and that Toshiro had learned to predict what he would do next. His captain was especially fond of stabbing through his opponent's chest from behind.

Still, knowing which attack was coming was one thing. Stopping it was another. And Toshiro's speed had increased to the point where he could follow a captain's movements.

"If you release your Zanpakto you might stand a chance this time, Hitsugaya."

Toshiro charged. "I'll make you release yours first!"

Captain Kuchiki blocked with both hands. A muscle twitched near the corner of his mouth.

Toshiro smirked. He was finally making his captain try.

They backed away before clashing again, the collision of their blades creating sparks. Again and again they met.

The radiating reiatsu from the duel was felt throughout the Sixth Division's barracks, and people began to gather around to watch. The sight of a captain going all out was rare and an opportunity not to be missed.

"Is that really Fifth Seat Hitsugaya?" one man asked. "I knew he was good, but that's the captain he's fighting to a standstill!"

"Maybe the captain's holding back?" another suggested.

"Don't you feel that reiatsu? We can't get within a hundred meters or we'd be crushed! No way he's holding back if it feels that strong!"

Captain Kuchiki flash stepped away from a perfectly timed thrust of Toshiro's, appearing twenty meters away.

"So you want to see my Shikai. Very well." He held his Zanpakto out in front of him.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The blade disappeared, but anyone who knew anything about Byakuya Kuchiki knew that his sword would be more dangerous than ever in that state.

For it had turned into a thousand tiny blades, each moving at such great speeds that a normal eye could not follow them.

But Toshiro did not have normal eyes. He could see the deluge of blades about to tear him to pieces, and leapt out of the way just in time.

The blades followed as if they had a mind of their own. But Toshiro knew it was the incredible powers of concentration of Captain Kuchiki that controlled each of the thousand blades individually.

The blades split into two groups after Toshiro's second dodge, striking from different angles. Toshiro was unable to avoid both attacks completely, and many of the blades cut into his left arm dangerously close to his wrists. Blood sprayed in all directions.

Toshiro let his arm go limp. It was useless for holding his sword anymore, so it was no longer worth worrying about.

"No choice now." he said. If he did not go all out now, his Captain would not hesitate to kill him. For the first time since his defeat of Rukia Kuchiki eight months earlier, Toshiro released his Shikai.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

"**Finally" **the dragon said with annoyance.

He brandished his Zanpakto a hundred and eighty degrees, ice shooting out of the tip. The ice formed a semi-circle around him, catching and freezing all one thousand tiny blades as they attacked again.

"I think we're done here." Toshiro said. "You can't attack anymore."

"Hado, number thirty one: Red flame cannon."

The ice in front of Toshiro exploded, forcing him to shield his face with his good hand to block the debris. When he lowered his arm Captain Kuchiki's sword was back in its pre-released state.

"Never count your opponent out unless they can no longer stand."

"Kido, huh? If I had known that was allowed I wouldn't have even bothered with my Shikai."

"In a duel, anything goes. Do not let any of your skills get rusty." Captain Kuchiki glared at him. "Is that all your Shikai is capable of?"

"What?"

"Disappointing. From your fight with Rukia, I expected you to be able to defend yourself and attack me with the same move, but you stopped after freezing my Senbozakura."/

After that match, the Sixth Division's sixth and seventh seats approached Captain Kuchiki to ask him why Toshiro had not been made the lieutenant of the squad.

"I have my reasons." was the only answer they were given.

Toshiro had himself begun to wonder why his rank had remained only at fifth seat level when he had met Rangiku Matsumoto for their mission in the world of the living. She was about to become a lieutenant herself, and Toshiro did not sense very much difference in their powers. If anything, he was the stronger of the two of them.

Toshiro theorized that it had something to do with the captain's pride. He refused to call a person by a title that was lower than what they deserved, so he kept his most powerful subordinate in a position that allowed him to merely say "Hisugaya." At least that is what Toshiro thought.

It did not matter much to Toshiro that his rank was far below his abilities. The former was just a label, and truth be told he was not as proud of the latter as other people would have been.

But having great strength in a milieu where power was valued did have its perks. His presence had begun to elicit responses other than annoyance or curiosity. The other squad members were finally acknowledging him when he passed, calling him by his title in casual conversation instead of just on missions, and no one called him a kid or a child to his face after witnessing his fight with the captain./

At the beginning of summer, Captain Kuchiki summoned Toshiro into his office.

"I am putting you in charge of training the new recruits from this year's batch of graduates."

"Yes, sir." It was one more lieutenant's responsibility to take on.

"Do not think of this move as an expression of my satisfaction with your performance. It is merely a prudent course of action, leaving my most skilled subordinate the task of training the division.

"I would have done this last year. However, at the time most of the division would have regarded it as an insult. Now that you have earned their respect you can teach them without hurting their pride."/

When the new recruits arrived Captain Kuchiki gave the exact same speech he had given the year before. Though this year he glanced at Toshiro, who was standing next to him, at all mentions of "the best."

Toshiro kept his eyes on the recruits. There was a combination of apprehension and nervousness in the air. And he realized that at least some of them were as frightened of him as they were of Captain Kuchiki./

The next day Toshiro led his first training session. He had the recruits, numbering more than two hundred, break into teams of five to face off against each other.

He observed their progress. For the most part each team worked well together, being made up of people who were friends in school.

But occasionally there would be one individual who cared only about showing off, attempting to defeat all five opponents by himself or not bothering to worry about his teammates.

In most cases Toshiro stepped in to reprimand the recruit in question and remind him or her that unlike the school, the focus in the squads was not on individual achievement but on working together.

However, there was one recruit who would shove his own teammates out of the way to get a shot at his opponents. Upon witnessing him push one of his comrades to the ground Toshiro flash stepped in front of him, seizing his Zanpakto with his bear hand.

"What is your name?"

"Mogi."

"Well, Mogi, I'm going to ask you to sit on the side for the rest of today's session."

"What?"

"You heard me. Today is a team exercise. You are obviously not ready to work with a team."

"Come on! I'm stronger than all these guys!"

"That is not for you to decide. You are not their leader, and this is not a mission where lives are at stake. Now step aside, or I will report you to the captain for insubordination."/

Toshiro sat by the entrance to the training grounds when the session ended, pretending to be in a deep meditation as he listened to what the new recruits had to say as they left.

Some spoke favorably of him, others unfavorably. But both groups compared him to Captain Kuchiki. If they liked the captain they seemed to like Toshiro, and if they disliked him Toshiro seemed to earn their ire by association.

"Great." Toshiro sighed./

"Hey, Byakuya! Wait up!"

Byakuya Kuchiki did not linger after Captain's meetings, so Aizen had to run after him to be able to start a conversation.

"What is it?"

"I'm on my way to the Eighth Division for some afternoon sake. Captain Kyoraku invited you as well."

"I'm not interested."

"He said if you said that to ask whether the head of the Kuchiki Clan can hold his sake."

"That man." Byakuya hissed. "Very well. I'll go."/

It turned out that half of the captains were there. Seated around the desk were Captains Kyoraku, Ukitake, Gin, Aizen, Unohana, and Captain Kuchiki.

"So tell me about this fifth seat of yours, Byakuya." Aizen said. "I thought you took him because you didn't want him to be another Gin."

"Thank you, Captain Aizen." Captain Gin said with a creepy smile.

"I'm curious-burp-as well." Captain Kyoraku said, again the most drunk of all of them. "By all accounts-burp-he's at the level of a captain, and you've still got him in the fifth seat."

"I'd understand it if you were trying to keep him safe." Captain Ukitake safe. "I've been reluctant to look for another lieutenant since Kaien died, but you sent him to fight a menos on the verge of turning into an arrancar!"

"I don't think children that age should be given such a responsibility." Captain Gin said. "Yachiru is bad enough."

"Come now." Captain Unohana said. "I think she's sweet. But Toshiro's nothing like the Eleventh Division's Lieutenant."

She turned to Captain Kuchiki, her voice raised to a scarily high pitch. "Three of us here don't have a subordinate strong enough to become a lieutenant, but why are you keeping our strongest non-captain at a fifth seat level?"

"I don't reward incompetence."

"Incompetence?"

Captain Kuchiki sighed. He did not like betraying confidences like this, but there was no way to wheedle out of Captain Unohana's questions when she used that tone of voice.

"He has a problem with his Zanpakto. I do not know why, but he will not use his Shikai if he can avoid it, and when he does use it, it is as little as possible."

"And you think this is going beyond trying to push himself?" Captain Ukitake asked.

"I have not seen a single display as impressive as his fight with my sister since, even though he has been fighting _me."_

"And only those who get along with their Zanpaktos can be captains." Captain Gin said.

"There's always Zaraki." Captain Kyoraku said with a chuckle. "You'd better hope he doesn't take _that route, Byakuya."/_

Gin found Aizen pacing near the Fifth Squad barracks.

"Did you find that interesting?"

"Very."

"So I guess he's not going to be that much of a problem. Without using his Zanpakto there's a limit to how strong he can get."

"Don't expect this situation to last forever, Gin. Although…"

"What are you thinking?"

"If he's stuck at that level then there may be an opportunity to remove him from play now."

"How?"

Aizen smiled. "By accelerating one of our experiments."

"Ahh. A risky move. And what if he survives?"

"It will still be worth it, as long as the experiment succeeds."

"That's what's so scary about you, Captain Aizen. You have so many goals that everything is a victory to you."


	14. Chapter 14

_I've never had a complaint about_ _using / to show a change of scene or perspective before. I'll try something different this time._

_Edit: The freaking lines I used don't seem to show up on this site for some stupid reason. Sorry for the confusion. It took a lot of expreimentation to find the current method which does seem to work._

Captain Kuchiki watched all of Toshiro's sessions with that year's recruits. He had chosen the location of his office for that very purpose when he had first become captain.

He had to admit that the boy was meticulous, spending hours on one lesson or exercise until he was certain that all who were trying were able to master what he was trying to teach.

He was also very strict, the captain observed with satisfaction. All those who did not put their all into the training suffered his displeasure, and those who caused trouble were immediately given harsh punishments.

Though it was common for punishments to be duels with a ranked officer-in order to beat sense into the troublemakers-Toshiro never ordered a man to fight him. He seemed to go out of his way to avoid injuring his charges.

That was the one difference between Captain Kuchiki's methods and Toshiro's. The captain did not mind or hesitate to put a subordinate in the hospital if the situation called for it.

While he was a little soft by Captain Kuchiki's standards, Toshiro was slowly gaining the approval of those he was training. A leader always becomes more popular when he or she achieves results, and that year's recruits were seeing their fighting abilities improve far more and faster than they had expected.

Captain Kuchiki also noted that they were better able to organize themselves and work in groups than the recruits of previous years had been. Between the improved teamwork and the startling amount of them who had already achieved Shikai, nearly a third of the whole, the captain thought that with five more years of training groups like that one his squad would rival Captain Soi Fon's Second Division in efficiency.

There was nothing to complain about with the boy's students.

The boy himself, on the other hand.

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

The battle lasted for hours.

Toshiro whirled and danced, flash stepping every few seconds to attack from a new, unexpected angle. In comparison Captain Kuchiki stood almost completely still, keeping his feet planted on the ground and using fewer flash steps. Their fighting styles were perfectly realized contrasts of each other.

Toshiro had to compensate for his size in combat by being more active and denying his opponents the advantage of their longer reaches. He had become especially adept at using his reiatsu to allow himself to use the air as if it was solid ground, opening up a whole new dimension of possible attacks.

The technique Toshiro used, however, was not true flight, and left his momentum only half under his control. The rest was under the power of gravity.

Captain Kuchiki, on the other hand, favored a less flashy and simpler style of fighting that kept him grounded. He only attacked from the air with kido or his Shikai.

A chain with a sickle at the end appeared connected to the hilt of Toshiro's sword. It followed his blade as he swung, wrapping around Captain Kuchiki's sword and trapping it.

The chain was a phenomenon that Byakuya Kuchiki had no experience of before. He had originally assumed that it was part of Toshiro's Shikai. But it did not usually appear with his call to Hyorinmaru. In fact, it normally only appeared when Toshiro was trying to avoid using his Shikai.

A sword transforming without a release was unheard of in the Soul Society.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The Zanpakto freed itself from Toshiro's grasp by turning into the thousand tiny blades. They shot at Toshiro from point blank range.

But in the months since they had first used their Shikais against each other, Toshiro had finally come to be able to keep up with Captain Kuchiki for reasons other than that his captain used predictable moves. Toshiro was himself fast enough to match him almost move for move.

He flash stepped away as easily as if the attack had been from across the grounds.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

Toshiro fired to waves of ice, one at the thousand blades, the other at Captain Kuchiki. He flash stepped out of the way while directing his Senbonzakura to safety. He was not entirely successful, however, as over a hundred of the tiny blades became frozen in midair.

They were freed by the remaining nine hundred blades shattering the ice.

Captain Hitsugaya and Toshiro launched their Shikai attacks at each other once again.

Toshiro held back for just an instant before unleashing his ice attack. Four meters in front of him it froze all one thousand blades.

Toshiro put one hand to his cheek and then held it in front of him. It was covered in blood.

One blade had gotten past his defenses.

"Pathetic."

"What?"

"You are pathetic."

"Because I got a cut? It was a mistake, one that won't happen again."

"Any injury is not the problem. _You_ are, Toshiro Hitsugaya."

When Toshiro said nothing, Captain Kuchiki continued. "I told you when you first joined my squad. I expect nothing less than the best from my subordinates. You are not giving that to me."

"I'm fighting my captain to a standstill. What more do you want?"

"I want you to stop holding yourself back. You have reached the point where you can no longer progress if you continue what you are doing. Even if your swordsmanship one day far surpasses mine you will never be promoted in my division, and you will never be a captain."

"What if I don't want to be a captain?"

Captain Kuchiki raised an eyebrow.

"I won't fail at anything I try to do, but if I've reached my plateau, I don't care all that much."

"You're plateau is far beyond this. You have a mental problem. What is it that is keeping you from truly reaching the level of a captain?"

Toshiro was again silent.

"As your captain, I order you to tell me what is holding you back."

"I-I-" Toshiro stammered. "My emotions…cause dangerous shifts in the weather. As I've gotten stronger…it's gotten more violent…If I were to be at a captain's level…the result would be monstrous."

Captain Kuchiki sighed. "So you are afraid of your own power. I see I was right to not promote you to be my lieutenant. Despite all of your skills, you are nothing but a child."

"Don't-" Toshiro began.

"That is the logic of a child, Toshiro Hitsugaya. If you fear your power to much to use it, you will never control it. Instead, it will control _you."_

Toshiro stared at him wide eyed.

"If you truly wish to keep your power from hurting others, you must master it, not run from it. Until then, you will remain nothing. A child in Soul Reaper's clothing. A 'could-have-been' that never was."

Captain Kuchiki held his Zanpakto out in front of him. "And in case you were thinking that keeping up with me at this level makes us close to being equals." He dropped the blade.

"Ban…kai."

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

Toshiro was in the Fourth Division's hospital for days.

Once again his physician was Hanataro Yamada, for whom this was the first time dealing with a patient with such serious injuries. He insisted on dragging the treatment out so as to be sure not to make any mistakes.

But when the hell butterfly flew through his window Toshiro's stint in the hospital was brought to an impromptu end. He jumped out of bed, put on his kimono and ran out the door.

"Wait!" Hanataro called after him. "You're still not fully healed!"

"I'm fine!" Toshiro yelled, ripping a set of bandages off of his forehead.

All captains and lieutenants were ordered to head to the barracks of the Twelfth Division for an emergency meeting. For all divisions without lieutenants the strongest seated officer was summoned instead.

Toshiro was almost the last to arrive. Only Kenpachi Zaraki and his lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi arrived later than him.

"Is this a meeting or a nursery?" Captain Gin asked when he saw Toshiro.

"Be nice, Gin." Captain Aizen scolded. "I gather this isn't the time to pick fights."

They were gathered in the sanctum of the captain of the Twelfth Division, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, around a giant screen.

"Please explain, Captain Kurotsuchi." Head Captain Yammamoto asked.

"Please direct your attention to my monitor." He hit a few buttons and an image appeared on the screen.

An image of a gigantic hole in the sky.

"Is that a-" Captain Ukutake began to ask, but stopped as three menos grande stepped out of the hole.

"It is indeed a garganta, the largest I've ever seen. I estimate it is roughly a thousand meters in diameter. It seems to lead directly into the menos forest in Hueco Mundo. Several dozen Gillian have already passed through and more are coming by the minute."

"How did a garganta this big occur?"

"As of now, I do not know. I will have to do more research into it."

"We can determine the cause of the catastrophe later." the Head Captain interjected. "Our primary concern right now is stopping it. The menos are heading directly for the city of Tokyo. Millions of human lives are at stake.

"All captains are ordered to go and destroy the menos and the garganta. All lieutenants and seated officers present are to remain here and be ready to provide immediate assistance should the situation change for the worse. The gate to Japan has already been prepared. Go!"

Without another word, all eleven captains, excluding the Head Captain were off.

The lieutenants and ranked officers sat and waited while several of Captain Kurotsuchi's men monitored the captain's progress and the menos on the monitor.

"Head Captain," Matsumoto asked, "you've really never seen a garganta that large before?"

The Head Captain shook his head. "Not in my two thousand years."

There was a beeping noise as a light began flashing in a bulb on the monitor controls.

"Oh god." one of the Twelfth Division men said as he pressed the buttons on the controls furiously.

"What is it?" the Head Captain asked. "What's wrong?"

"A-another garganta!"

'What?"

"It's growing, almost as big as the first! There-there are menos coming out of this one too!"

"Where is it, boy?"

He hit a few more buttons. "N-near New York, sir."

The Head Captain looked around the now silent room, then back to the monitor. "Is there any way to divert some of the captains there?"

"No, sir. They're all already in the precipice world on a path straight for Japan. We'd have to bring them back to send them to New York."

"Of course." He addressed the gathered Soul Reapers.

"We have no choice. All of you must take a portal to New York and hold off the menos there. We will send the captains to your aid as soon as possible. Dismissed!"

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

"So we're supposed to fight a never ending army of menos grande by ourselves?" asked the Second Division lieutenant, Marechiyo Omaeda, as they ran through the precipice world.

"We're to hold them back from the city until the captains can come to relieve us." the First Division lieutenant, Chojiro Sasakibe said.

"And how long is that supposed to be? They're fighting their own battle, half a world away! It would take longer to get to us over the Earth than to go back to the Seretei first!"

"Odd, isn't it?" Toshiro said.

"What is?" Matsumoto asked.

"The timing of the appearance of the second garganta. It separated us from our captains too completely."

"You think this was planned?"

"I think this might be the beginning of an invasion."

"Based on the data," the Twelfth Division lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi, said, "I believe Fifth Seat Hitsugaya is right."

"Whatever the cause of the situation," Sasakibe said, "under the circumstances we will have to chose a leader from among us to keep us organized. This is life and death."

"Agreed." Nemu said. "We should chose the strongest among us to lead this mission."

They were silent for a few seconds, until the lieutenant of the Fourth Division, Isane Kotetsu, spoke up.

"My captain told me that Fifth Seat Hitsugaya is stronger than any lieutenant."

Omaeda huffed in disappointment, but Matsumoto and Nemu concurred.

"All right." Toshiro said. "Here's what we'll do. We'll all concentrate on one menos at a time. That will maximize our chances of survival. If we split up we're as good as dead."

"Right." twelve voices answered.

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

The portal let them out over a bay between several land masses, where they found that Toshiro's brilliant plan was rendered moot.

The menos had split into three groups. The largest was heading almost due north, towards the island with the gigantic structures. The other two groups of Gillian had broken off towards the other nearby land masses.

All of which had a large enough population to attract large hollows.

"What now?" Isane asked.

Toshiro sighed. "Lieutenants Omaeda and Kurotsuchi will defend the island to the east. Lieutenants Sasakibe and Kusajishi will defend the mainland."

"All right!" Yachiru yelled, leaping towards her assigned menos with an enthusiasm that frightened the rest of them.

"Get after her, Sasakibe. Don't let her do this alone."

"Right away."

"The rest of us," Toshiro said gravely, "will keep the main group of menos from reaching the city."

All the water around was a boon for Toshiro. He could cause a cascade to shoot up from any point in the rivers, completely enveloping the menos above and freezing it in place for someone else to destroy.

But that method could only destroy one menos at a time, and at any one moment there were dozens of them coming through the garganta.

And though the menos may have been mindless, they had the predatory and survival instincts of animals. After Toshiro's group had destroyed fourteen of their number, they began to respond with their ceros.

The Soul Reapers were forced on the defensive, dodging rather than attacking, especially Toshiro. The Gillian had sensed that he was their most powerful foe and were targeting him specifically.

Five ceros shot at Toshiro at once from different directions, and he barely escaped with the longest flash step of his life up to that point.

"Ughhh."

Toshiro grasped his side. That maneuver had reopened the largest wound he had received in his ;ast training match with Captain Kuchiki.

The flash step had taken him away from the battle, and he turned his attention to the other two fronts.

Lieutenants Omaeda and Kurotsuchi were in a situation similar to his group, though Liutenants Sasakibe and Kusajishi were fairing better. In fact, Sasakibe was mostly just watching as Yachiru gleefully cut through menos after menos.

But as much fun as Yachiru was having, she was using up too much of her reiatsu. Toshiro sensed that she could not keep up that level of fighting much longer.

And now that his group was no longer able to thin out the menos horde, reinforcements of Gillian from the garganta were beginning to overwhelm them. And without Toshiro to draw their attention the menos were firing their ceros at whoever was closest.

Toshiro raced back to the fight, ignoring the bleeding from his side.

Fortunately, since the menos were only aiming for the Soul Reapers, the ceros had so far only hit the water.

But that changed once the first Soul Reaper touched dry land.

Matsumoto flash stepped to the shore, dropping one knee and breathing heavily, unable to remain in the air any longer due to battle exhaustion. A cero struck the ground only a few meters from her, causing an enormous explosion that threw her body like a rag doll.

"Matsumoto!"

Toshiro flash stepped to the shore and ran towards where she lay.

It was the biggest mistake he could have made.

Toshiro had become distracted from the battle just as he had entered the range of the menos' attention. A cero flew over his head and exploded barely ten meters from him.

The force blew Toshiro into the river. He swallowed a lungful of water and began to sink beneath the surface.

'I failed.' he thought, barely sensing that the battle overhead was going worse and worse.

'We're all going to die, and so are the people of New York.'

'Because I wasn't strong enough.'

Toshiro closed his eyes. For a moment he considered it ironic that he would meet his end by drowning.

"**So you want more power"**

Toshiro was aware that there was no longer any water around him. He opened his eyes.

There stood the dragon, in his inner world.

"Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro called. "Why have you brought me here?"

The dragon pounced at him, and Toshiro jumped out of the way.

"What are you doing?"

"**Do you wish to live"**

"What's the point?" Toshiro muttered. "Everything I touch dies."

"**Do you want the power to save them"**

"What?"

The tail of the dragon struck Toshiro from the side, knocking him to the ground.

"Ohhh." Toshiro moaned painfully as he rose.

"Why are you doing this to me? Are you trying to gloat now that it's the end?"

The dragon grabbed Toshiro in its claws and held him to its face. Turquoise eyes glared into glowing ruby ones for the last time.

"It's all your fault!" Tohsiro yelled. "You made granny ill! You made Kusaka die! You made me this!"

With a roar much like the dragon's, Toshiro found the strength to free himself from the dragon's grasp. He drew his sword and attempted to smash it into the dragon's face. The dragon covered itself with its wings, which deflected the blow, but it was still driven back nearly twenty meters.

Toshiro began to cry. "Why?"

"**Because I am like you"**

"Huh?"

"**I was born from your loneliness, Toshiro Hitsugaya. It is a loneliness I share as well.** **I appeared to you when you thought your only friend had abandoned you, but you rejected me then**

"**You continued to reject me, and in my loneliness I reached out to the person closest to you at the time, Sojiro Kusaka**

"**I am no more responsible for his death than you"**

"I know." Toshiro said. "You're a part of me. Anything you cause, is really _my _fault."

"**Is that what you hate about me"**

"Yes. That is what I've always hated about you."

"**And I hated how you ran from your problems, from me"**

Toshiro nodded. "All this time, I never considered that you felt the same way. I've just wanted you gone."

"**But you can never get rid of me"**

"I know that now. It would be like cutting off my right arm."

"**So what will you do"**

Toshiro wiped his eyes. "You said something about power before.

The dragon spread its wings and took off into the air.

"**Now that you understand, you can use my power, if you are strong enough"**

Toshiro looked at the sword in the palm of his hand. He could feel the power flowing through the flesh and metal.

"All I have to do to prove myself strong enough, is beat you right now, huh?'

"**Yes"**

A wind blew behind Toshiro's back, as strong as any he had faced before in his inner world. But this time, Toshiro was the one who summoned it.

"Too easy."

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

Only Yachiru, Nemu, and Sasakibe were still standing, and even the little pink haired girl had stopped smiling.

Nearly a hundred menos grande were bearing down on them from all sides.

"Do not despair." Sasakibe said. "If we fall, it shall be with honor."

"I am certain should I prove defective my father will build himself a better lieutenant." Nemu said, allowing herself a bit of a smirk.

The menos opened their mouths to charge their ceros while the three lieutenants raised their swords for one last charge.

The water between them exploded, and a large blur of blue shot up from it.

Despite his injuries, despite his exhaustion, despite nearly drowning to death only seconds earlier, Toshiro laughed like a child.

He was not walking on air as Soul Reapers had the power to do.

He was actually _flying._

Like the dragon.

The menos turned their attention to him, firing their ceros. Toshiro barrel rolled out of the way with the grace of a bird of prey.

Taking his sword and one hand and the chain in another, Toshiro flew staright at the nearest menos. As he stabbed it he threw the chain at another menos twenty meters away. Both Gillian became completely enveloped in ice upon contact with his weapon.

Toshiro yanked both the sword and the chain away, and both giant hollows shattered into nothingness.

The other hollows began to back away from the strange new power, and the lieutenants got their first good look at the new Toshiro.

Ice covered much of his body, including his entire right arm. His sword was gripped in what appeared to be a dragon's head. Large wings of ice had grown out of his back, even stopping the bleeding from his side.

"What is that?" Sasakibe asked.

"Based on the rough analysis I have been able to perform under these circumstances," Nemu said, "I would theorize that that is a Bankai."

"You three." Toshiro said. "Can you keep them off of me for a minute?"

Yachiru perked up. "One minute? That's easy!" She leapt at the nearest menos.

Toshiro flew off towards the garganta, holding his sword in front of him and concentrating all of his energy into it. Clouds appeared overhead and snow began to fall gently as his preparations neared their completion.

Finally, Toshiro was ready.

"Sennen Hyoro!"

Many gigantic pillars of ice shot up from the water into the sky, surrounding the garganta. Toshiro turned his sword ninety degrees counterclockwise, and the pillars closed in on the portal to Hueco Mundo, sealing it off from the outside world.

Toshiro heard the roars of the menos that were still trying to get through the garganta, but the ice held. Not even blasts of ceros could break it.

"Look out!"

Toshiro heard the warning just a bit too late to dodge. A cero struck him in the back from behind, destroying half of one of his wings. He flew out of control for a few dozen meters before righting himself. He used his good wing as a shield to cover his body against the follow up cero. When the wing moved back behind him the other wing was revealed, completely regrown.

'A hundred of them left.' Toshiro thought. 'I don't know if I can keep this form long enough to destroy them all. I'm at the end of my rope.' The adrenaline rush that he had gained when he had found himself flying was beginning to fade, and all of his injuries were again taking their toll. 'And when I lose it, the rest in Hueco Mundo will probably be able to break through my barrier.'

But he flew into the carnage nonetheless, firing cascading dragons of ice at as many hollows as he could.

Within a few minutes his vision began to blur.

'Shock.' he realized as his movements also slowed. His attacks became weaker as well, but he continued to press on.

After twenty minutes, there were only a few menos left. Toshiro could barely see anymore, but If he could just destroy them, he could let go.

But one fired a cero, and Toshiro no longer had the strength to dodge. He just managed to shield himself with his wings.

He had become so weak that the blast tore through the wings and still had enough force to spare to burn his arms. Toshiro's Bankai faded away, and he fell.

He fell forever.

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

The pain surprised him.

It was one of those notions that never died, that the dead feel no pain, so Toshiro knew he was still alive.

He opened his eyes. He was lying in a bed, back in the Fourth Division hospital.

"You're finally awake."

It was the voice of Captain Unohana.

"H-how? I fell into the river again. How didn't I drown?"

She smiled. "We captains arrived just as you fainted. Captain Kuchiki caught you while the rest of us used our combined powers to close the garganta. Thanks to your barrier, we didn't have any hollows distracting us from that task."

Toshiro sat up. "The others-" he began before agony shut him up.

"They're fine. Everyone was at least a little banged up, and Lieutenant Matsumoto suffered the most serious injuries, but they're all going to make full recoveries. You, on the other hand, almost killed yourself by using up nearly all of your reiatsu. It took six days for you to recover enough to even wake up. So take it easy for a while."

He laid back down. "Thanks."

She smiled again. "I hope this is the last time you'll be in here for an extended period. You may be one of my favorite patients, but that means I want to see you more outside the hospital than inside."

Toshiro smiled as well. "I'll keep that in mind."

Captain Unohana left, but Toshiro was not alone.

"Thank you as well, Hyorinmaru."

"**There is no need to thank me. I would have died as well had you perished"**

"That doesn't change the fact that you helped me when I most needed you.

"I know it will be difficult for both of us, but we can try to work together from here on out."

"**That would be preferable to our previous state of affairs"**

"I promise: you won't be lonely again."

The dragon howled, a sound Toshiro found quite preferable to its roar.

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

"Not only did you fail to kill him," Gin said, "but you've made him more powerful than ever!"

"True." Aizen replied. "But it was worth it."

"How so?"

"I successfully opened two of the largest gargantas in history simultaneously. In the future I can make more of them and make them bigger.

"And this way I learned what his Bankai is. If he had achieved it normally I might never have found out just what it could do until it was too late. That alone is as great an advantage as I could ask for."

"Still, to reach this level so soon; even you did not predict that. And he'll keep on growing."

"Yes. We will have to make our move before he reaches his peak, some time within the next hundred years.

"Gin, you are going to be his most vocal opponent when he is nominated to become a captain. I want him predisposed to dislike you."

"That is easy enough, Captain Aizen. I can count on one hand the people who like me."

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... _

_The chain, I know it's said to be part of his shikai, but it really doesn't always appear with the shikai and the first time it appeared was during his fight with Gin, BEFORE he used his shikai._

_About the way he achieved bankai. I know it's supposed to be through years of training and all that, but it always seemed to me to be more a matter of reaching a certain level of connection with one's Zanpakto than a matter of strength, especillay since it is the opposite of going into one's inner world, taking the Zanpakto out. In this story Toshiro was between captain level and lieutenant level, so I think his level of strength is appropriate for bankai. It's certainly no more ridiculous than Ichigo's powerups throughout the Rukia rescue arc. And he's stronger than Renji or Ikkaku were when they achieved bankai._


	15. Chapter 15

Even had Toshiro not missed a great deal of time between his two hospital stints, the incident with the gargantas would still have caused an overflow of paperwork that would have kept him in the office from morning till night for days. As it was, he was so swamped that it was weeks before he saw the light of day.

Many details about what had happened were still troubling. For one, the invasion that Toshiro and Nemu had both predicted never came. No more portals had appeared and no more menos or higher level hollows had been reported in the world of the living.

But the obvious intelligence behind the attacks meant that there had to have been more to them than simple coincidence. Had they been natural, the gargantas would have appeared closer together in both time and space so that the captains would have been able to either split up to take care of them or arrive at the second in time to prevent their lieutenants from suffering any serious injuries.

The complete lack of any kind of follow up attack could only be attributed to one thing: their survival. Whoever or whatever was behind the incident must have been planning on thinning out the Seretei's population of second tier Soul Reapers, leaving the twelve captains as the only threat from the thirteen court guard squads. That their overall strength was not diminished-with Toshiro's power up it was actually increased, would force the power behind it all to pause and reconsider its strategy.

And there was beyond any doubt a new power in Hueco Mundo. Sooner or later it _would_ strike again, in full force. It could have been tomorrow or in centuries, but now every captain knew that a war was inevitable.

That was the mistake of their mysterious enemy. By not succeeding in weakening them, it lost the opportunity to strike when they were most vulnerable. Now that they knew of the threat, the Soul Reapers would be prepared.

When the enemy made its next move, they were determined that the thirteen court guard squads be at their full strength, with every division having a captain and a lieutenant, a condition they had not been in for nearly a century and only sporadically in the few hundred years prior.

**"Which means you must be at your full strength as well"**

"I know."

Toshiro was sitting in his office in a jinzen pose, communicating with Hyroinmaru.

"Anything able to use so many Gillian as pawns must be powerful beyond imagining."

**"They would not be the only ones"**

"Yes."

To have overwhelmed natural Zanpakto spirit of Kusaka and appear to him as well the difference between Hyorinmaru and a normal Zanpakto must have been far greater than Toshiro had wanted to believe.

It was a power Toshiro was now, finally, determined to master.

"Am I interrupting?"

Toshiro opened one eye. He had sensed the approach of an incredible power even in his meditative state, but had decided not to end the conversation with his sword until his captain had entered the room. It was time he started treating Hyorinmaru like a person.

"I see you've already finished the paperwork." Byakuya Kuchiki said. "That is good.

"It is time."

Toshiro got up, sheathed his sword, and put it on his back before following Captain Kuchiki out of the office.

As they exited the barracks Toshiro took one last look at the division headquarters that had been his home for two years.

"Do you have someone in mind to take over for me, sir? I think Kanzo and Sayu look promising, but they're both a good five years away from that kind of skill."

"I have begun searching very seriously for a lieutenant, though I believe it will be some time before squad six produces another Soul Reaper of the appropriate caliber."

"So will you look in other divisions?"

Captain Kuchiki closed his eyes. "Perhaps."

"So you do have someone in mind."

"Through my sister, I have become aware of someone whose one goal is to surpass me. Though as of yet he has not demonstrated the skills I require, his dedication to that singular purpose might one day lead him to overcome his limits."

Toshiro nodded. Captain Kuchiki did not seem to think the man he had in mind would ever reach the level of a captain, even with the advantage of an iron determination.

Their destination was the headquarters of the First Division, the great hall that only captains and acting captains were usually allowed to enter. Toshiro followed as Captain Kuchiki opened the doors to the hall, entering the meeting place of the captains for the first time.

The large room was covered in dark brown panels of wood that restricted the amount of light that came in and gave it a foreboding mood.

"You are here ten minutes early." Toshiro heard the Head Captain's voice say. "That is good."

Captain Kuchiki took a seat on a one of the mats prepared on the floor.

Toshiro had to struggle not to gape.

The captain's test was supposed to be overseen by three captains, including the head captain. But Toshiro counted no less than nine people sitting in front of him.

"Um, should we get started?" he asked.

"Not yet." Captain Ukitake said. "We're still waiting for one more person."

Twenty seconds after the test was supposed to start, Captain Kyoraku burst through the doors behind Toshiro.

"I'm not too late, am I? I hope I didn't miss everything."

"For you, old friend," Captain Ukitake said, "this is unusually early."

"That's good." Captain Kyoraku said, taking his seat.

"Now, Fifth Seat Hitsugaya," the Head Captain said, "do you know the three ways in which a Soul Reaper may attain the rank of captain?"

Toshiro nodded, but the Head Captain explained anyway.

"The first method is to pass the captain's examination, overseen by three captains. That is what you have come here for at the behest of your current captain.

"Another way is for six captains personally recommend a candidate three of the remaining captains give their approval.

"As you can see, ten captains have come today, nine of whom with the intention to support your promotion."

Captain Ichimaru interrupted. "I came for the opposite reason. I think it's ridiculous to make a little kid a captain."

Toshiro shot a glare his way. After everything he'd been through, Gin had the audacity to call him a little kid?

"Despite Captain Ichimaru's objections, the prerequisite conditions for captaincy have been met. The exam is no longer necessary."

Toshiro blinked. He knew they'd be looking to fill their ranks as quickly as possible, but never did he consider that the court guard squads would be so desperate as to make it this easy for him to become a captain.

"You have demonstrated tremendous strength and skill, far beyond any of the lieutenant rank, and are still improving at a remarkable rate. You have recently achieved bankai, and every lieutenant in the Seretei has willingly submitted to your authority.

"Before granting final approval, however, I wish to ask you a few questions to get to know my newest captain better.

"I want to know why you wanted to become a Soul Reaper in the first place."

"I didn't, sir."

"You did not what?"

"I never wanted to become a Soul Reaper."

"Hmmm." Toshiro had a brief fear that he would melt under the Head Captain's gaze.

"Then why did you join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads?"

Toshiro looked down before answering. "I had no choice. My reiatsu was so strong that it was making my grandmother ill. If I had not come to learn to control it, it would have killed her and maybe other people too."

"Yes. Necessity often leads to the most wondrous of discoveries. How is your grandmother these days?"

"She-she passed on while I was at the academy."

"I see. Most unfortunate. There are few things that please an older person more than to see those they consider their children succeed." He looked at Captain's Kyoraku and Ukitake.

"I am sure your grandmother would be very proud of you. Now it is time to make _us _proud.

"Good luck, Captain Hitsugaya."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

No longer under the protection of being one of Byakuya Kuchiki's subordinates, Toshiro had no way of getting out of a 'celebratory' sake session with many of the captains hosted by Captain Kyoraku, who had yet another excuse to get drunk.

"What's the matter?" the flamboyant captain asked. "You're not touching your sake."

"I don't like it."

"You're missing out on one of life's great pleasures." Captain Aizen said.

"Perhaps if we made a toast you'd take a sip?" Captain Unohana suggested.

Toshiro stared at her. He had no idea anyone's voice could go so high.

"Um, all right. I guess. Just one sip."

"Good." She said cheerfully.

"So you've learned not to argue with our Fourth Squad Captain." Captain Ukitake said approvingly. "Wise man."

"Now for the toast!" Kyoraku exclaimed. "To our newest captain and the filling of all of the captains' ranks!"

Captain Kuchiki finished his glass. "Did you support his captaincy just to get him to one of your sake parties?"

"No. I mean, well, ok, that _is_ part of it." Toshiro shot a death glare at him. "Oh, come on! It's not like I'm the only one with an ulterior motive!"

"What?" Toshiro demanded.

"Gin's jealous of your stealing his thunder as a prodigy." Aizen said.

"Captain Kenpachi heard about your strength from Yachiru." Kyoraku added. "He wants to fight you one on one at some point. Captain Kurosutchi thinks you'll be easier to study away from Byakuya. And the Head Captain heard that you're really good with paperwork."

"Paperwork?" Toshiro asked, nonplussed.

"Squad Ten has not handed in a single page of paperwork on time in years."

"But-but there's a lieutenant! Doesn't she-"

"That's why the old man's so desperate for a new captain there. He wants you to start getting the paperwork done."

Toshiro slapped his forehead with both palms.

"Why me?"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Very good, Gin." Aizen said. "I was afraid you'd overdo it."

"I was expecting a little more of a reaction out of him."

"No matter. A subtle approach is best. That is why I do not plan on setting up Kurosutchi. It's too obvious."

"And what part of allowing hundreds of Gillian into the world of the living is 'subtle?' Now the court guard squads are preparing to be at full strength."

Aizen laughed.

"There are _three_ of us, Gin. The squads can never be at anything close to full strength as long as we are here."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Toshiro put the white haori on just before walking outside. It seemed fitting that the first place he would wear it would be here, at his grandmother's grave.

"Things have really changed since I left." He said to the tombstone. "I have hundreds of subordinates now. They say I'm the youngest captain in the history of the Seretei, and the one who did it the fastest."

He closed his eyes to say a silent prayer.

"Whitey!"

In an exaggerated neck motion Toshiro turned his head to the girl who had called him.

"It's _Captain _Hitsugaya now, Hinamori."

She chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Toshiro looked at her black kimono. "I see you graduated a year early."

"Yes!" Hinamori exclaimed excitedly. "I've been placed in Captain Aizen's fifth squad!"

Toshiro nodded. "Captain Aizen is a good man."

"He let me take a break to come back here, like you. I'm the twelfth seat now, but Captain Aizen told me that he thinks I'll be able to become his lieutenant in a few years!"

Toshiro turned back to the grave. "That's great."

"Toshiro?"

"What is it?"

"What's wrong?"

Toshiro sighed. "I keep wondering…would granny have been proud?"

"Of course she would! People your age aren't even allowed in the academy, and here you are a captain already! Like Captain Aizen!"

Toshiro shook his head. "No. I'm not in his league. I've seen what a trained bankai can do compared to mine right now, and I'm still a long way from being the equal of any of the other captains."

"It's still impressive. Who wouldn't be proud of their grandson if he accomplished everything you have."

He nodded again. "Of course."

"Aren't you proud of yourself, _Captain Hitsugaya?"_

"No. Not really." She gave him a quizzical look. "It's hard to be proud of something you never wanted in the first place."

"Oh. You still don't want to be a Soul Reaper?"

"No."

"Toshiro," she asked, "why did you always hate the idea of becoming a Soul Reaper so much?"

In the back of his mind, Toshiro heard the dragon chuckle. It knew what he thought, even though he had never said it out loud until now.

"I've always thought of Soul Reapers as being adult versions of myself."

Hinamori was confused. "What do you mean?"

"To people who lived in the country like ourselves, Soul Reapers come across as nothing more than cold, calculating creatures who are aloof…and alone. Like me.

"That's the image I've always had. Byakuya Kuchiki and Central Forty Six did nothing to dispel that notion. They only made me believe it more.

"I couldn't understand why anyone would want to be like me. _I _didn't want to be like me. I wanted to be normal. To have friends.

"But I went to the academy and took the path I was already on."

"Ohhhh. Poor Toshiro. Not every Soul Reaper is like that."

'I know that now that I've really met Shunsei Kyoraku. By the way, stay away from him. He's drunk most of the time, and even when he's not, he's kind of a pervert."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Toshiro began to walk back to the house. "Regardless. I'm still me, even though I was hoping to become something more."

Hinamori grabbed his shoulder. They looked at each other, she more seriously than she had ever looked at Toshiro before. The she pulled him into a big hug.

"I'm glad, whitey. I always liked you just the way you are."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Welcome, captain!" Rangiku said as Toshiro entered his barracks for the first time.

"Thank you, lieutenant. Are the men assembled?"

"Yes. And I think that they're very excited to have a captain, finally."

'We'll see.' He thought. Toshiro foresaw a problem with a number of squad members resenting having to serve under a child captain.

"By the way, sir, I prefer just being called Rangiku."

"Let's go."

Rangiku led him to where the squad was assembled. Toshiro was glad to see a stand was assembled for him so that he would not have to look up at his subordinates when first addressing them.

"I'm not one for speeches," he said loudly after Rangiku had quieted the crowd down, "so I'll keep it short. Give me your best, and I'll give you my best. I'll be coming to your training sessions to assess where everyone is at. Expect some changes in time.

"Now there's work to be done. Get to it!"

The crowd dispersed and he left, following Rangiku to his new office.

"You had to end with a bit about work, didn't you?"

"I've heard that there is a work ethic problem in this squad. I mean to change that."

"Come on, captain! It's your first day! Why don't you try to have a little fun?"

"Maybe when I have free time. _Not _when there's work to be done."

"What a grump! Captain, I take it as my duty as your lieutenant to teach you how to have a good time."

'This is not going to end well.' Toshiro thought. Of course, Hinamori would tell him this was just what he needed, but she wouldn't have to deal with the Head Captain when things did not get done.

The paperwork that a captain had to fill out was far more intensive than that of ranked officers or lieutenants, as Toshiro found out over the course of the day. The backlog from the previous months of missed paperwork was worse than he had thought as well.

As the sun was setting, Rangiku entered his office, yawning.

"I'm beat. I need to go get some rest." She put a stack of papers on Toshiro's desk.

Toshiro took the papers and immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Liuetenant, where is the rest of-" he looked up to find his office empty.

'She'd better have just forgotten to pick the rest up.' He thought. He went to her office to search for the missing paperwork.

Rangiku's desk was clean, and there was nothing on the floor around.

'Where is it? Paperwork doesn't just walk away.'

His eyes scanned the room, settling on the couch in the center.

'You have got to be kidding me.'

Toshiro bent down to look under the couch. He sneezed.

There were literally stacks of papers, some so left there so long that they had become very dusty, affecting Toshiro's sinuses.

**"MATSUMOTO!"**

... … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

_And the adventure continues. I hope you enjoyed. Remember, don't go around handling swords right after drinking sake._

_After some consideration, I'd say the theme song for this story is Somewhere I belong by Linkin Park._


End file.
